The United Nation of Elements
by Terra Bird
Summary: In a world where bending is criminalized, the Avatar must make a stand for what is right.
1. Chapter 1

**{This idea came from the wonderful Emberstep of WCRPG. Bless them for allowing me to write this. Petra is their character, not mine. Enjoy~!}**

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter One

 _Fire. Air. Water. Earth._

 _Before the time of the Great Union, there were four nations. The world was at peace and people were happy. Then, a group of radical non-benders with twisted ideals of normality rose, consuming the world with its hatred for bending and influencing non-benders everywhere. Their overwhelming numbers took control of every nation, joining the four powers to create one: The United Nation of Elements. Every bender was hunted down, imprisoned, enslaved, or killed. It was a genocide of worldwide proportion and very few people were able to cling to hope. But the Avatar was out there. The world's only chance was on the rise._

 _—_

"Crud!"

Petra's hands groped at loose gravel. She lost her grip and fell, tumbling down into the canyon and scraping her skin on the rocks. She landed, hissing irritably and gripping her knees to ease the pain. Her bag landed beside her.

She scowled up at the top of the canyon wall, muttering irritably under her breath. Just her luck; she had decided to take a shortcut through the canyon, but it had turned out to be much harder than she had anticipated. Maybe she should have hired a guide, but she didn't have that kind of money and she couldn't risk getting found out. This was the best way to go, she had decided. Maybe she should learn to think a little more before she made decisions, then.

She picked up her bag once again and slung it over her shoulder. Rubbing her scraped palms together, she began her assent once again.

Petra managed to reach the top of the rise, only to find that she had to go down the other side. She groaned, deciding instead to take a seat on the edge of the cliff. She fished a water container from her bag, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes and wiping sweat from her brow. She unscrewed the cap, drinking greedily from the flask. There wasn't much left, unfortunately, and she finished it off quickly.

"Great," Petra muttered, eyeing the flask like it had betrayed her. Who knew how much longer she would be stuck in this canyon? It was hot this time of year, but she could tell that summer was beginning to blend into spring. Not that it would matter much if she couldn't find her way out of this labyrinth of a canyon.

She stashed the canteen back in her bag and began her grueling journey down the cliff face.

—

The sun was beginning to set as Petra stumbled upon the alcove. It was a nice indent in the canyon wall, providing sufficient shelter for a weary traveler. She headed inside, setting her bag down and collapsing against the wall.

She had been walking all day and her legs were sick of it. Her mouth felt dry and a headache was forming at the base of her skull. She exhaled quietly and leaned her head against the rocks. She didn't want to stand up ever again, but she knew she had to find something flammable before it was too dark to see—the canyon would be much too cold during the night for her to sleep comfortably without a fire.

Petra got to her feet slowly and stretched her arms over her head. Her feet felt sore and she really needed something to wash her cuts out with. For now, she just headed out of the alcove, searching for a patch of bracken similar to those she had passed occasionally earlier in the day.

She should have been used to walking by now. It had been over a month since she had left her village in hopes of finding some hidden island just off the coast of the Western Archipelago that her mom liked to talk about. _The Fire Nation,_ she mentally corrected herself. Now that she was part of their world, she should try to see through the eyes of a bender.

She scuffed her shoe into the dusty earth. Some element that had turned out to be. She didn't know any bending techniques and certainly wasn't raised as a fighter. Her mom was more into artistic things, pottery especially. She loved molding clay into something useable, like a bowl or a cup. She made a decent income, selling her pieces around the village. She harbored hazy memories of her father, one being that he used to paint the pieces her mother had so skillfully made. They kept those ones in their house like treasures, memories of a happier time and a man currently missing from the world.

Petra tripped on a small dip in the ground, managing to steady herself before she fell over completely. She frowned, affronted by the rude awakening and stuck her tongue out childishly at the hole that had snapped her out of her thoughts. She scoffed and kept walking, paying closer attention to where she was stepping.

It was several minutes until she spotted a clump of dried bracken clinging lifelessly to the canyon floor in a desperate attempt to prevent becoming a tumbleweed.

"Finally," Petra breathed, jogging over to the dead leaves. There was a good amount of the stuff, probably enough to keep her warm all night. She began to gather the fronds in her hands.

She was rudely interrupted by a rock to the head. It tumbled down the nearby cliffside and landed on the top of her head, shocking the girl so that she dropped her collected bracken and clutched at her skull.

" _Spirits—!_ " Petra hissed, glaring up at the offending cliff. She assumed the rock had come loose due to the loose soil that this canyon seemed notorious for. What she saw instead twisted her stomach into knots.

An enormous arachnid-type creature glared down at her from it's position perched on the side of the rock wall. It had four eyes on either side of its head and four hairy, disgusting bug legs protruding from its even more disgusting thorax. The creature hissed at her, parting its jaws to reveal sharp teeth and a forked tongue.

Petra gaped at the creature before her, backing slowly away from the canyon wall and completely forgetting the bracken at her feet. As soon as it launched itself in her direction, she took off running with a renewed energy.

The insect pursued her, scuttling just behind her and slowly closing the distance. The burst of adrenaline that had thrown her into action was wearing off quickly and her breath grated sharply against her already dry throat. No way could she escape this thing.

It lunged for her, but Petra managed to throw herself to the side just before it snatched her. She stumbled, but turned in the direction she thought the alcove had been. _This was the way, right? Or was it the other way? No, I'm sure it's this way._

The beast recovered quickly, continuing its hunt eagerly. Petra didn't have time to think anymore, so she ran blindly, figuring it wouldn't matter whether she got back to her things if she ended up dinner to some creepy crawly bug thing. Maybe she should have taken one of those pamphlets they were handing out at the guide center.

The beast made to lunge again. Petra heard it screech angrily and felt its breath hot on her neck just as she tripped over another hole in the ground ( _Was that the same one?!_ She barely had a second to think). She turned over quickly, her heart practically breaking free of her ribcage, expecting the worst, but the bug was gone.

She sat up and whipped her head to the left to see the bug writhing on its back, trying to flip over. It let out a frustrated scream, nimble legs searching for something to hold on to. To her right, Petra heard a triumphant shout.

"Oh yeah, nailed it! Did you see that, Jarn-Shyr?"

Petra nearly snapped her neck turning to look to the source of the voice. A boy, maybe her age, maybe a little older, was throwing his fists into the air and dancing in a way Petra could only describe as horrible. He had long brown hair tied into a loose top-knot, much thinner than those she saw in her part of the country. He must have hailed from western roots.

His euphoric dancing was cut off as the canyon bug flipped back over, switching its attention from her to the boy. His laughing shakily turned into yelling as he started running in the opposite direction. The insect started after him, but it was intersected quite suddenly by a new opponent.

This time, it was a girl, a few years younger than the boy from before. She was dressed modestly, in an ankle-length skirt and a short-sleeved tunic. She cut across the creature's path, distracting it from the fleeing boy. She held something in her hand, but Petra couldn't make out what it was from where she sat.

The creature snapped its jaws and dove for the girl, probably delighted to have been given such a foolish meal. Petra picked herself up quickly, eyes glued to the girl as the thing sprung for her and certain that she was about to witness this stranger's graphic demise.

Surprisingly, that was not the case. The girl jumped out of the way just as the creature clamped its jaws down on air. She impaled whatever she'd been holding through the top of the insect's head, killing it with a sickening _crack._

Petra watched on in a daze, awed not by the way the girl had disposed of the beast but by the way everything had happened so quickly. She brushed her hands off and started walking slowly toward the stranger and her kill.

Just as the girl turned to look at Petra for the first time, the boy from earlier appeared, yelling to his friend. "Is it dead?"  
The girl looked away from Petra, who had almost reached her. The boy jogged over, sliding Petra a sideways glance that she read as cautious. He reached his partner just as Petra did, standing beside her and looking laid-back.

It was weird to Petra. The boy looked casual, but Petra felt an air of anxiety about him as he locked eyes with her. The back of her neck tingled where she had felt what she thought had been the heat of the carnivore's breath. That thing hadn't even made it close enough; that couldn't possibly have been its breath.

The girl wasn't any better. In fact, she made Petra feel very uncomfortable very suddenly. She had sharp, dark eyes, the calculating kind, the ones you could tell saw right through you. Petra found that she had been holding her breath despite her screaming lungs. She exhaled slowly.

"Thanks for that, y'know," Petra waved her hands vaguely, "saving me and all." _Spirits, way to make a first impression._ "I totally would've been spider-food the way that was heading."

The anxious air seemed to evaporate from around the boy as he grinned good-naturedly. "No worries! We're glad we made it in time. I was afraid the canyon-crawler would have got to you before we got to it." He laughed. "They like to come out around twilight. What was that word you used, Jarn-Shyr? 'Crepuscular,' wasn't it?" He looked down at the girl beside him, Jarn-Shyr. She looked away from Petra, making eye contact with her companion, but just shrugged.

The boy shrugged as well. "Thought so," he said. He switched his attention back to Petra. "Ah! Sorry, where are my manners?" He made a fist with his right hand and pressed it into his left palm, bowing curtly. "My name's Kasai, and this is Jarn-Shyr." Jarn-Shyr also bowed. "We came from a place not too far north of here."

Petra bowed back. "I'm Petra. I came from a little east of here." There was a slight hesitation in her words at the lie. If she sounded like she was a traveler, they would become suspicious. What girl her age would come all the way from one of the villages on the river from the south? A bender, that's what, and bending was the kind of thing one hid from people.

"Oh, really?" Kasai asked, interested. "That's not a name I've heard before. You're from one of the villages on the bay? They say there's a serpent swimming in that lake, down near the pass. Haven't been there myself, though. Have you ever seen it?"

Geez, this kid liked to talk a lot. He didn't seem suspicious of her, at least, just curious. Still, she kept her guard up. "Uh, no, can't say I have." She wasn't too keen on keeping up conversation. She was grateful that they had saved her, though, and it was certainly a nice change of pace to meet some strangers who didn't want to kill her.

She took that back—it was nice to meet _a_ stranger who didn't want to kill her. Petra couldn't say the same of Jarn-Shyr. She just kept staring at her, not saying anything. It was starting to creep Petra out. Whatever she had used to kill the canyon-crawler was out of sight now, probably in the satchel she had slung over her shoulder. Petra hoped she wasn't going to bring it out again and kill her too.

As long as they assumed she was a nonbender, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Ah, man, that's a real shame." Kasai lamented. "I thought you might have a cool story to share." He laughed again. Petra laughed along awkwardly.

"Gee, look at the time," Petra glanced up towards the horizon where the sun was sinking in the sky. "I'd better get back to my alcove. Nice meeting you two!"

"Oh!" Kasai exclaimed as Petra tried to turn away. "You found an alcove? Mind if we join you? We haven't really found a safe place to stay around here, and those canyon-crawlers might show up again."

Petra groaned internally. Couldn't she shake these people? Kasai she wouldn't mind too much, but she didn't feel comfortable sharing a cave with Jarn-Shyr. She might try to kill Petra while she was sleeping or something.

However, it would be rude to say no right after they had saved her skin, and those canyon-crawlers were definitely a threat. She knew she couldn't fight them herself and she had kind of run out of food and water. Maybe they would have some to spare. She wasn't sure she would survive in this canyon otherwise.

"Sure," Petra replied, albeit reluctantly. "If I can find it, that is." She laughed awkwardly, turning away from the pair. _What have I gotten myself into?_

—

Eventually, they did find the alcove. Petra's bag was where she'd left it. She realized she had forgotten to collect the bracken from earlier and slowed to a stop. "Uh, sorry, not exactly homey. I was going to get some bush to burn, but then that bug thing attacked and I just kinda forgot. Sorry." Great. Now she was stuck with strangers _and_ she was going to freeze to death.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kasai waved his hand passively as they sat down in a rough circle. "I can—!" He broke off suddenly, noticing the way Jarn-Shyr was glaring at him. He seemed to remember something and picked up where he had left off. ". . .go collect some more. You guys wait here." He stood up, complaining about having to get up when he had only just sat down. His whining trailed off as he got further away from the alcove.

It was dark at this point. Petra was alone in the alcove with Jarn-Shyr. Without Kasai, the atmosphere was uncomfortable and there was no sound. Petra hadn't heard a single word out of Jarn-Shyr since they had met, so she must have been shy or something. Petra could barely see her silhouette in the dim light of the half moon. To eradicate the tension, Petra decided to try and make conversation.

"So, you and Kasai are from the north, right? Are you siblings?" She asked. Jarn-Shyr didn't respond, but her silhouette shifted, indicating that she had denied the idea. She must have been even more shy than Petra had assumed. Then again, her expressions earlier hadn't given Petra the impression that she was shy. Her presence had seemed assertive and firm. What was the deal with this drastic contrast of personalities?

Petra decided to try again. "Okay, um. . . What village did you guys come from?" Surely that wasn't too intrusive of a question? Unless they were, like, criminals or something, in which case maybe it hadn't been the best idea to room with them.

Jarn-Shyr didn't reply. Petra was beginning to get annoyed. Being shy was fine and all, but there was a certain extent of rudeness that she could tolerate and Jarn-Shyr had just about reached that line.

Luckily, Kasai appeared in that moment, carrying an armful of sticks and dried ferns. "I found this dead tree a little east of here. Sticks'll probably burn better than just leaves any way." He seemed to sense the uneasy ambience right away. "Uh, something happen?" Kasai asked worriedly.

"No," Petra huffed, "just trying to make conversation." She folded her arms indignantly. Kasai blinked, then started laughing. Petra scowled. She didn't like being laughed at, especially when she didn't know why. "What is it?" She demanded, anger rising in her throat.

Kasai set down the sticks a few feet away as his laughing died out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized. Jarn-Shyr handed him a pair of spark-rocks from her bag. He clicked them a few times until the dried wood caught fire. "I just forget to explain sometimes. Jarn-Shyr doesn't speak."

It was Petra's turn to be surprised. "Oh!" she said, picking her words carefully through her embarrassment. "I'm. . . sorry, I. . . just assumed—I mean, I just thought that—!"

"—That she was ignoring you?" Kasai guessed. He laughed again. "Yeah, I thought that too for a while. But you get used to it. It's nice having a friend who will listen to what you have to say without interrupting."

Petra's face burned. "I'm sorry, Jarn-Shyr. I didn't know."

Jarn-Shyr shrugged, her presence seeming much less intimidating now that her silence had an explanation. Petra felt relieved as the tension ebbed away and she settled down near Kasai's fire. Kasai lay down opposite to her, but Jarn-Shyr stayed upright near the alcove's opening. Petra shot Kasai a questioning glance, but he shook his head. "Jarn-Shyr likes to keep first watch. Don't want those crepuscular creeps sneaking up on us, now do we?"

Petra glanced back at Jarn-Shyr. "No, I guess not." Despite her words, Petra still wasn't sure if she wanted to trust these two people. They were still strangers, after all, and nonbenders, most likely. Sleeping was a state of vulnerability that she wasn't quite ready to display around them. However, her body was sore and she was exhausted. She succumbed to sleep faster than she would have expected.

—

It was late. Petra didn't know the exact time, but it was still dark outside and she hadn't dreamed yet, so it couldn't have been more than a few hours passed the time she had fallen asleep. The fire was dying slowly, she noticed groggily through her state of half-awake.

As her senses slowly sharpened, Petra noticed a shuffling sound and quiet murmuring. Immediately, she was on guard. Her eyes snapped open, adjusting to the darkness slower than she would have liked. She listened intently to the murmuring but lay rigid against the stone. The air was cold and she knew she wouldn't fall asleep like this.

". . .Alright, 'night Jarn-Shyr. Don't wake Petra up." Petra relaxed. They were just exchanging watch duties. She started to sit up, considered calling out to them that she was awake and maybe try fanning the flames a little, but then something extraordinary happened.

Kasai yawned, obviously not fully awake yet. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. Maybe it was because he was tired, or maybe he simply hadn't noticed that Petra was awake, but he removed his hand from his face and pushed his palm outward, in the direction of the dying fire.

The cavern erupted with light as fire was born from his hands. It wasn't much, but it was bright and warm and enough to make Petra scrambled backwards against the wall in her shock.

Kasai realized his mistake as soon as she moved. He cut the fire off and stumbled towards her, trying to explain.

"Oh spirits, Petra, I didn't know you were awake! I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen that—!" At this point, Jarn-Shyr was up as well, making her way over to Kasai as he tripped over his own words. Petra saw something in her hands reflect the light of the fire. Was she armed? "—I can explain, I can really. It's not what it looked like—!"

"No, no!" Petra threw her hands up in front of herself defensively. "No, it's fine! I don't care, really!"

Kasai relaxed a bit, but Jarn-Shyr didn't seem convinced and continued to advance on her. Petra desperately searched her mind for something to discourage the younger girl from gutting her.

"I'm a bender too!" She blurted, unable to think of anything else convincing enough on the spot. _Idiot! You don't just shout that out!_

Jarn-Shyr froze, the firelight reflecting in her eyes and making it impossible for Petra to tell what she was thinking. Her left hand, just barely leveled at her waste, dropped to her side along with—was that a knife?

Kasai sighed loudly, his relief evident. "Oh thank the spirits. We thought you were going to kill us!" He laughed shakily, clapping Jarn-Shyr on the back. She rolled her eyes and walked silently away from the other two and settled down where Kasai had been sleeping earlier, completely disinterested now that Kasai wasn't in danger.

Kasai was still catching his breath, hand on his chest as he recovered from his near heart attack. He laughed again and fell onto his backside, sitting a few feet away from Petra and holding his face in his hands. "Thank the spirits," he kept muttering.

"Sorry about that," Kasai murmured once he had completely calmed down. "Sorry, Jess!" He called over, louder than before. Jarn-Shyr made a sound Petra identified as a scoff before tugging a blanket tighter around herself.

"Was she gonna. . . ?" Petra trailed off, gesturing towards Jarn-Shyr.

"Probably," Kasai admitted. "I'm sorry we woke you up. We were just exchanging watch. And, uh, sorry about her."

"It's fine," Petra replied. "If a stranger figured out that I was a bender, I'd freak out too."

They laughed. "So, what's your element?" Kasai asked her after a moment.

Petra hesitated. Jarn-Shyr seemed to be listening now, wondering if Petra would have to lie. She wouldn't.

"I'm an earthbender," she confessed after a moment. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. "Well, I mean, I don't know how to bend, but I've made some rocks move without touching them before, and my mom _did_ kinda send me away to protect me from the UNE. I think that's proof enough."

Kasai shook his head. "Man, that's rough. My family did the same. Jarn-Shyr and I are actually heading over to the Bender's Isle by the Fire Nation. Have you heard of it?"  
Petra straightened up a little. "Bender's Isle? That's where I'm going!" Relief flooded her. Not only was Kasai a bender, but they were both heading to the same place. Maybe they could travel together. It would certainly make the trip safer and way more entertaining. At this point, she found how cautious she had been around him earlier ridiculous.

"Is Jarn-Shyr a bender too?" Petra asked, leaning to glance at her over the fire. Across the room, Jarn-Shyr snorted.

"No, she's a nonbender. More open-minded than most of them, though. She's not interested in picking a side, I think. She just defends the people she cares about—ow!" Kasai flinched as a rock nailed him in the shoulder. He glared at his companion. "Jess, what the heck?"

Jarn-Shyr was lying back down, pretending not to notice his outburst. Kasai rolled his eyes and turned back to Petra. "Whatever. She's just embarrassed because she doesn't want you to think she's an _uncool little kid with actual feelings—_ Hah, you missed!" He ducked under another projectile, having anticipated the stone. Jarn-Shyr shrugged and buried herself under her blanket. It looked warm, made of a material Petra couldn't identify. It was decorated with interesting patterns—stripes and arrows, mostly. It looked pretty old, too.

"Ignore her," Kasai sighed. "But hey, we're going to the same place, right? Maybe we should travel together."

Petra brightened. "I was thinking the same thing! It's probably safer than going alone, right? Well, you have Jarn-Shyr, but know what I mean."

Kasai nodded sagely, holding his chin. "Safety in numbers. Agreed." He yawned, causing Petra to yawn as well. "But hey, I'm on watch now, so you guys go to sleep. I'll keep the fire going too. Jarn-Shyr, don't kill Petra! She's our friend now, okay?" The only response he received was a scoff from a shuffling blanket. "Right." Kasai seemed satisfied. He turned to Petra. "Don't worry about her, she's actually harmless as long as you don't attack her."

Petra smiled awkwardly. "Great, I'll keep that in mind." She kicked him away lightly. "Now move, you're in my spot."

Kasai rolled away, out to where Jarn-Shyr was sitting earlier and whistling airily. Petra settled down for the second time that evening. She yawned again. Closing her eyes, she wondered what the days ahead would hold.

—

 **{Alright! Chapter One is finished! ^v^ Thanks again to Emberstep for letting me write this story. If you're reading this, then I hope I did your character justice. I hope to write more chapters soon. Review if you liked it, or if you didn't. Even if you tell me my writing is horrible, I'll take it into consideration and do my best to improve. Thanks for reading and have a nice day! ^v^}**


	2. Chapter 2

**{Sorry about the shorter chapter! Enjoy~}**

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter Two

Petra rose with the sun. She was proud to say she had developed some kind of schedule during her days on the move. Some form of system, no matter how insignificant, always brought a sense of normality to the table that she sought desperately. It was familiar so it was comforting and some days she felt it was the only thing that kept her sane.

However, that was the only thing that stayed the same. Petra realized this the moment she sat up. Now she had traveling companions with suggestions she would need to take into consideration. It wasn't just take-care-of-yourself anymore; now she had to make sure she actually _did_ think things through (which she should have been doing anyway).

At the same time, it meant she didn't have to make every survival-based decision on her own. It would help to have other people around. Three heads were better than one, or something like that.

"Alright, team!" Kasai exclaimed with too much energy for someone who had been exchanging watch off and on with Jarn-Shyr all night. Petra appreciated that they had let her sleep, but at the same time she wished they would have given her a rotation. They were a team now, and it was important for everyone to work equally. "Let's get moving! The canyon-crawlers will be heading in for the day soon and we'll be out of this maze by late afternoon if we make haste!"

Jarn-Shyr was already up. She had her blanket rolled up and somehow shoved away in her bag. Petra wondered what else she had stashed in there.

Kasai passed around a flask of water. Petra drank eagerly, thanking him and passing it over to Jarn-Shyr. It was old water and it tasted like it had been in that flask for several weeks, but to Petra it was one of the most refreshing things she had ever had to drink.

They put out the fire and left the alcove quickly, Petra remembering to throw her bag over her shoulder on her way out. The sun was already hot and Petra was sweating within minutes of leaving the shade of the overhang. She fanned herself with her hand and did her brown hair up in a ponytail.

"So, where did you _really_ come from?" Kasai asked her after a few minutes of silent walking. Petra was beginning to feel awkward again. She could tell that Kasai didn't liked silence, but he was being more careful about what he said now that there was a new person around. When he finally said something, Petra felt like some barrier had been broken and she could breathe more easily.

"I came from a village south of here, along the river. It's hard to describe, I could point it out to you if I had a map, though. It's on the northern bank. We get a lot of travelers trying to cross the Si Wong Desert over there." Petra explained. "What about you and Jarn-Shyr?"

"Hmm," Kasai had to think for a minute, it seemed. "Well, we didn't come from the same place. I came from a small village outside of Ba Sing Se to the east. That city creeps me out, just let me say. They're always soaking up our resources and I swear the government's corrupt or something." He shrugged. "Anyway, that's where I'm from. Jarn-Shyr. . . I think she's from, like, super east of here, like east-of-Chameleon-Bay east. That or up north near the Northern Air Temple." Kasai turned to look at Jarn-Shyr, who just shrugged. He looked dissatisfied by this response. "Yeah, I don't think even she knows. Not sure how she could have traveled so far without knowing, though." He looked at Jarn-Shyr pointedly. She just shrugged again.

"Eh, whatever. We'll find out some day. Until then let's focus on getting to Bender's Isle." Kasai shrugged the topic off, but Petra didn't get it. How could Jarn-Shyr make it all the way from either of those places without knowing where she had started? They were both far-removed from this canyon and had totally different climates. It was suspicious and Petra didn't like it, but she couldn't really worm it out of Jarn-Shyr anyway. She didn't talk, whether by choice or because she was actually mute Petra didn't know, but Jarn-Shyr wouldn't be telling either of them any time soon.

—

They made it out of the canyon without further event. They didn't encounter any more of those canyon-crawlers, though they had almost had a regrettable run-in with a guide and his tour group. That would have been difficult to explain.

They came out into a forest. The shade of the trees was a nice respite from the blazing heat of the sun. They walked until they encountered a river and refilled their flasks. Petra was beginning to warm up to her new traveling companions. Kasai told the absolute worst jokes she had ever heard and Jarn-Shyr felt less distant. Her journey was feeling less like a desperate fight for survival and more like a fun road trip with friends. Who were also fighting for survival. But the point was to forget that part. Whatever.

Petra suggested taking a break to swim in the river and cool off. She and Jarn-Shyr stripped down to their wrappings and jumped in eagerly, revitalized as the cool water rolled over their heads. Petra smoothed her bangs back over the top of her head to keep them out of her eyes. Jarn-Shyr came up with her mess of black hair covering her face. Petra laughed and Jarn-Shyr smiled, swiping it away to regain her vision.

Petra looked over Kasai, who sat on a large, flat rock jutting out from the bank of the river and kicked his feet a bit in the shallows. He waved and Petra called out to him, "Kasai! Get in here! You stink the most, man!"

Kasai shook his head. "Nah, I'll drown. You guys have fun, maybe I'll wash your clothes or something." He got up to leave, but Petra threw a glob of sand from the bottom of the river and hit him in the back. He cried out indignantly.

"Gah! I've been shot!" He fell to the ground like he had actually been killed.

"Spirits, Kasai, you're such a baby!" Petra called after him, treading water next to Jarn-Shyr. "Hurry up and get in here! I'm not walking next to you if you smell like elephant-rhino dung."

Kasai rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand, his elbow digging into the sand. "I can't swim, Petra! I'll die!"

Petra hit him with more sand. "It's shallow enough to stand, you pansy. Just get in here. Jarn-Shyr and I will make sure you don't drown."

It took some coaxing, but eventually Kasai stripped down to his underwear and tiptoed at the edge of the water. Petra and Jarn-Shyr watched patiently from the middle of the river. He stepped in up to his ankles, then to his shins.

"Am I far enough ye—Ah!" The rock he was standing on led to a drop-off and his foot slipped off the side. He sputtered and flailed his hands as he twisted and fell backwards. "Help!" he cried. "I'm drowning! Help!"

He was now only waste deep. His feet still reached the bottom. Petra and Jarn-Shyr exchanged deadpan expressions. Jarn-Shyr sighed and waded over to Kasai. Resting one hand on his back and the other wrapping around his arm, she steadied him firmly and lead him slowly deeper until he was up to his chest and she was treading water with only her feet. Petra tried not to laugh at the notable height difference.

They spent almost an hour in that part of the river. Jarn-Shyr tried to give Kasai swimming lessons, but the kid sunk like a rock. He claimed firebenders weren't meant to be in water. Petra responded by splashing water in his face. They washed their clothes and swam some more while they dried. At one point, Kasai started yelling about a fish biting his foot, but it turned out he'd just kicked a rock.

It was midday when they set out again. Petra felt clean and Kasai felt betrayed, but he was such a drama queen that no one really listened to his ranting. His topknot had come undone, though, and Petra found that his hair was neatly cut for someone who had been on the road since Ba Sing Se. He said that he and Jarn-Shyr cut each other's hair. Looking at Jarn-Shyr with her uneven mess of black hair, Petra believed it. Kasai redid his topknot, this time leaving some of his hair down.

Their clothes were damp, but it kept them cool through the heat of the day. Kasai explained that they were heading to a village called Senlin to restock on supplies.

"We'll be there in a day and a half, Jarn-Shyr says. Maybe sooner if we hurry."

Petra made no comment about Jarn-Shyr being unable to talk. She assumed they had a system worked out and left it at that.

—

Pottery clashed to the ground, shattering into several large pieces. Rei-Jin looked up from the piece he was admiring at the sound of shouting voices a few shelves over. Peering around the racks, he spotted the backs of four UNE soldiers. He sucked in his breath and ducked behind the rack again, clutching a clay bowl in his hands.

"We know you've got one here, lady. Fess up!" Did they mean him? He had been so careful, too. He hadn't bent any earth since entering the village, there was no way they could mean him. Still, he couldn't calm his pounding heart and remained out of sight.

"There must be some mistake," the woman, a kind aging lady with graying hair and laughter lines etching her face, replied calmly. "The only people here are myself and my customers. I would appreciate it if you didn't scare them off."

Another clay piece shattered to the ground. "Don't play dumb with me. Your chatty neighbor Shuu over there was going on and on about your earthbender daughter, said he saw her out his back window throwing rocks just last month!"

So it wasn't him. Rei-Jin sighed with relief, then felt terribly guilty. Whoever the UNE was looking for was in for it now.

The shop owner kept her cool. "I'm sorry, but any child could have been throwing rocks around behind the houses. And I don't have a daughter."

This was not what the soldier wanted to hear. Whether he genuinely didn't believe her or he was just sore about being made a fool out of, Rei-Jin would never know, but suddenly he took this woman by the arm and started to drag her out of the store. "We're taking you in for questioning. If you think you can get away with lying to the government, then you've got another thing coming."

Rei-Jin watched in shocked silence as the soldiers pulled the woman, still adamantly protesting, out of and away from the store. He came out from behind the shelf, the bowl still in his hands. Several other customers were crowded near the door, watching the soldiers drag her down the street. Absentmindedly, Rei-Jin put the money for the bowl he carried on the counter and ran out of the store, in the opposite direction of the soldiers. That had been close. He would have to leave this village as soon as possible.

—

The salty sea wind buffeted Lien's skin, pushing his unnaturally white hair out of his face and stinging his eyes. The smell of the ocean lost its refreshing tang after sailing for so long. His eyes narrowed in the direction of the horizon. He couldn't make out a coastline from so far away, but he could smell the soil carried on the wind. It was faint, hardly tangible, but even from this distance it was unmistakable.

They would dock at a harbor in the Central Kingdom early the next morning, he estimated, and they would set off for the Western Archipelago after a few days. Just long enough to load the cargo and any passengers. He sighed. Sorting out the benders from the nonbenders was always a dull chore in his opinion. Lien didn't care who boarded the ship as long as he got where he needed to go.

Night was falling. Dusk over the ocean was beautiful if it was caught on the right night. Tonight there were hardly any clouds in the sky and the colors of twilight bled into each other like watercolor paints. The brightest stars disturbed the canvas, puncturing holes of light through the painting. It was a subtly beautiful thing that few people took the time to appreciate anymore. It was sad that the world moved so fast that it could forget its own miracles.

Lien couldn't think this without being something of a hypocrite. Admittedly, he was one of those people who forgot the world sometimes, too caught up in his own problems to fully appreciate the bigger picture. He wasn't a poet or anything like an artist, but even he found the time to just sit down and watch sometimes. The view was worth it.

"Ah, Captain!" Lien turned at the sound of a voice, footsteps clattering up to follow. "Glad I caught you."

A kid around his age, with scruffy hair and warm eyes, greeted him enthusiastically as he came up from below deck. He had rough hands and a thin body, perfect for maneuvering around the ropes and tying down sails. He was bright and full of potential, as eager to work as he was to rest.

"Kozu! Good to see you. I hope you're doing well?" Lien replied cooly with a welcoming smile. Kozu grinned at the captain, jogging to stand at the rail beside his friend.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking. How're you?" Kozu replied, folding his arms and leaning them on the rail. He stared up at Lien as the other boy turned his gaze back to the sea.

"I'm doing well enough. I could use a respite from the ocean for a while, if I'm being completely honest." Lien confessed, watching the few clouds as they drifted along the horizon.

Kozu smirked at him. "Oh, really? The great Captain Lien Tosun, the man who practically breathes saltwater and survives on raw fish alone, needs a break from the ocean?"

"Hey, now," Lien protested, embarrassed. "I do not ' _breathe saltwater_ ' and I certainly don't _only_ eat fish. I'm not that into sailing!"

"Maybe not, but you're good at it!" Kozu continued with a laugh. "Captain at seventeen and you're still so modest. You're too level-headed, Tosun! Come have a drink with me sometime, I'm sure you would enjoy it."

Lien raised a hand in polite refusal. "I'll pass, thanks. Besides, I'm not captain of the ship yet. Once we drop Captain Hong off in the Central Kingdom, then I'll be in charge full-time."

Kozu hummed in admiration. "Responsible _and_ patient. No wonder you were promoted so quickly." They were quiet for a moment, enjoying the sea wind as it smoothed their faces over. Kozu's expression lost its humor momentarily as he asked, "Are you stressed about it?"

Lien's face became solemn as well, his warm smile fading slightly. Kozu knew him well enough to tell. They'd been friends for a long time, after all, and he was bound to pick up on Lien's habits. Kozu could tell that something was bothering him.

"I'd like to say no," Lien replied after another moment. "But I can't exactly tell a lie like that with much conviction." He sighed, leaning against the railing beside his friend. It felt nice to relax like this after spending so much time in a strict position of authority. "Besides, it's unrealistic _not_ to be stressed. There's only so much a person like me can do."

Kozu looked at him. "'A person like you,' huh?" There wasn't a response. Lien determinedly kept his gaze on the water. Kozu watched him for a minute, before snickering lightly. "You sure are something, Tosun. Just promise me you won't work yourself to death."

Lien took another minute to appreciate the waves peeling away from the side of the ship before he straightened again. He needed to get used to looking professional even when he was on break. Respect was hard to earn, especially if one was as young as he was. Kozu noticed this change in Lien's demeanor. An unreadable look crossed his face before Lien spoke.

"Thank you for your concern," Lien said, "but I'm fine. Anyway, what was it you came to see me about? It couldn't be that you just wanted to prattle about trivial matters."

Kozu's face kept that expression, the one that made Lien steadily more uncomfortable as it remained. It wasn't one he recognized on Kozu's face and it was strange that he would give him such a look. Kozu resigned to reaching into his jacket and pulling out a rolled-up scroll.

"It's a letter from the higher-ups. We didn't read it, but it's addressed to you. It's a black-ribbon." His face dropped the indiscernible expression and opted for a more serious one. He handed the letter to Lien.

"I'll see you later, Captain." Kozu waved and retreated back down below deck. Lien watched him retreat before turning his attention to the black-ribboned scroll. This couldn't be good. Black-ribboned scrolls always contained something serious, and if it was addressed to him. . . Well, he knew there were some things that could ruin his reputation among the crew and government. His heart picked up its pace as he untied the ribbon.

His eyes narrowed slowly as he scanned the contents. Why did it have to be now? Of all the inconveniences he had expected from the papyrus, this was by-far the worst that the universe could dream up. The timing was spectacular, if anything.

Lien rolled up the scroll, retied it and tucked it away into his coat. He folded his hands loosely, letting them hang over the side of the ship. He straightened almost immediately after, then shook his head at how ridiculous he felt. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair, inhaling the sea air deeply though his nose and exhaling through his mouth. His mind resurrected the image of Kozu's face as he had expressed his concerns.

 _Sadness,_ Lien decided with another breath.

—

Petra, Kasai and Jarn-Shyr walked into the village a few hours after the sun had set. Bugs buzzed around in the late summer air, filling Petra's ears with a low, annoying hum. There hadn't been any of those stupid things in the canyon. Maybe she should just rip her ears out now before she was up all night.

It wasn't a village built to support many travelers. There was a small inn from what Petra could tell, but otherwise the village was silent and few people roamed the streets. There were large walls protecting the village from any dangers that might come from the forest and guards standing at the tall gate. They were admitted into the village and quickly sought out the inn.

"Let's just check in and get to bed. I'm so tired that I'll probably die if we don't hurry." Petra groaned, her bag weighing a ton and her feet even heavier. Kasai mumbled his agreement and Jarn-Shyr nodded wearily.

They found the place on the eastern side of the village. It wasn't as run down as Petra would expect from a small village like this, but then again most of the buildings in this town appeared to be fairly new. Maybe they'd undergone reconstruction lately. Petra didn't really care. They rented a room—just one since they were tight on cash—and headed up the wooden staircase on to the upper floor.

The room had a couple mats laid out on the floor. Kasai found an extra stored away in a closet along with a couple of blankets. It was hot and humid in the room, a lot like the outdoors, so Petra slept on top of her blanket and pulled her shirt up to expose her stomach. The humming in her ears wasn't as hard to get used to as she had feared.

 **{Alright, next chapter should be a bit more exciting and also less rushed, now that the boring stuff is out of the way. Until then.}**


	3. Chapter 3

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter Three

Harumi's head popped out of the bushes, leaves scattering around her or sticking in her dark hair. She scanned the area suspiciously, gray eyes narrowing on her target: the loading bank of the cargo ship. Box after box was lifted on to the boat in an endless stream of faceless laborers. The stockpiled cargo towered over them, an indomitable mountain casting a shadow over them and shielding them from the morning sun.

"What are you thinking, Chee?" Harumi whispered, not moving her gaze from the danger ahead. There was a chittering sound and her tunic rustled, producing the head of a small, red-furred creature moments later.

"Hmm," Harumi ducked behind the bush again, pulling the fire ferret out of her shirt and setting him down in front of her. Chee watched her with his small black eyes as she brought a hand up to her chin, considering her plan of action.

Getting on the ship wouldn't have been a issue if she hadn't encountered three problems: one, she didn't have enough money to pay for a ticket. Two, she needed a passport that didn't have the words "Western Air Temple" written under her picture in big, bold writing. Three, no animals were allowed on the ships. Those three restrictions were the deciding factor for this illegal escapade she found herself planning, the causes of her sweaty palms and racing heartbeat.

All she had to do was sneak into one of the several boxes in line for boarding, all of which had already cleared the inspection round before the ship had even docked. With her abilities in the field of stealth and sneaking and the like, how hard could it be?

Hopefully not as hard as her nerves were trying to convince her.

"Alright, Chee, back inside," Harumi sighed, pulling the hem of her shirt away from her body to make room for the rodent. He scurried up into the folds of the fabric, settling on her back somewhere. She pulled the hood of her colorless cloak up over her head and began to creep towards the boxes.

—

"Anyone wanna tell me how we're gonna cross this river?" Petra drawled, hands on her hips as they confronted the swirling waters.

They were about a day outside of Senlin village, the sun rising over the trees behind them. After restocking their supplies, they had left quickly, heading northeast. Yes, they were backtracking a little, but Senlin had been a necessary stop and a welcome reprieve from the brutal forces of nature. As it turned out, they needed to cross this stupid river just to get to the harbor town near it's mouth. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any transport boats near the end, so Petra, Kasai and Jarn-Shyr had needed to follow the river east for a day until the banks came closer together and the water was less frightful. Now, after packing up camp, they needed to find a way to cross the dang thing.

There were several problems here. One of the most prominent ones being that they had no form of boat to cross with. The river was a good fifty meters across at the narrowest point, and swimming would be difficult with the current, if not impossible, even if Kasai _could_. They had their newly-stocked supplies with them—Kasai had even picked up a backpack to share the burden (though Jarn-Shyr ended up carrying it for him most of the time). To top things off, Petra had taken her first watch the night previous and felt drained enough already. She didn't want to end up falling asleep during tonight's shift just because she'd exhausted herself trying to cross a freaking _river_. Kasai and Jarn-Shyr would never trust her again if that happened.

"Uh. . ." Kasai examined the dark water, probably not too excited about getting in either, if that was what it came to. "How about we just fly?" He suggested sarcastically, tilting his head back to show Petra his dull expression. She scrunched her nose at him mockingly.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of things we can actually _do_ , Kasai." She sneered. "Got anything like that?"

Kasai shrugged and shook his head. "Can't say I do, ma'am." He brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head, placing the other on his hip as he sighed. "But I can say that this is probably one of the hardest challenges we've faced yet." He laughed shallowly and raised an eyebrow at Petra. "You wouldn't happen to know how to waterbend, would you?" He joked. He laughed and turned away, shaking his head.

Petra felt a shiver shoot down her spine at the off-handed comment. He hadn't meant it as anything more than a joke, but still. . . It hit closer to home than Petra would have liked.

"What about you, Jarn-Shyr?" Kasai dragged it along. "You sure you haven't got any secret bending powers we don't know abo— _ow!_ " He cried out as Jarn-Shyr landed a punch to his shoulder, sending him stumbling backward a few steps. He whined at her like an injured puppy, eyes shining with mock-hurt. She shut her eyes and turned her nose up indifferently. "So mean!" Kasai despaired.

Petra returned her focus to the problem at hand, scratching at a spot on her cheek as she thought. Kasai's comment may have been a joke, but it _had_ been helpful in that it put her focus on bending. She couldn't waterbend, but she _did_ have the ability to earthbend, however little she had actually used this potential. Throwing rocks at her grumpy neighbor Shuu's back wall was way different than building a bridge or anything.

But Jarn-Shyr seemed to be thinking along similar lines. She tugged on Petra's sleeve, pulling her out of her thoughts. After a moment of intense staring, Jarn-Shyr blinked and her face flushed with embarrassment. Petra wasn't sure what the staring was for, but Jarn-Shyr's reaction was like she realized she couldn't speak with Petra for the first time. She fumbled with sign language, but Petra didn't understand that either and could only respond with a blank stare. Jarn-Shyr's face was getting redder by the second.

Kasai seemed to notice his friend's distress and came over to see what was going on. "Problem, ladies?" he asked, leaning around to get a look at Jarn-Shyr's face. She bristled slightly and gave him a flustered look, adding a few hand signs to convey some important points of information. They were brief and vague, from what Petra could tell, so when Kasai seemed to understand perfectly, Petra felt very stupid and very out of the loop.

"Eh, sorry Petra," Kasai said, seeming to read her expression. "Jarn-Shyr's not used to commuting with the common folk." He boasted, straightening his collar and puffing out his chest. Jarn-Shyr smacked his arm lightly to get him to stop fooling around. "A joke, a joke!" He assured her.

Kasai dropped his humor for a minute, adopting an earnest expression. "What I _mean_ is she's used to talking to me using mostly expressions and hand gestures. Actually speaking is something like a last resort, for instance, if she's telling me her name."

Petra gave Jarn-Shyr a confused look. "So. . . you _can_ talk? You just don't want to?"

Jarn-Shyr didn't nod or shake her head. Her shoulders raised and she brought her hands up like she was about to go into a long explanation. Kasai translated. "'It's a bit more complicated than that,' she says."

Petra cocked her head slightly. "How so?"

Jarn-Shyr looked slightly uncomfortable at the interrogation. "She won't say," Kasai explained, giving his friend a sideways glance. "A story for another time, I guess."

Petra hummed. There was silence for a minute, before Kasai spoke up again. "Oh! What was it you were trying to say?" He asked Jarn-Shyr. She nodded and met his eyes, explaining with little use of hand gestures.

It was interesting to watch, Petra decided, almost hypnotic. Both of them held eye contact with equal but effortless intensity, Kasai registering even the slightest twitch of her lip or the most subtle flick of a wrist. In turn, Jarn-Shyr suddenly appeared much more expressive to Petra, and if she hadn't been paying attention Petra may have never noticed. It was a level of communication one might find between two childhood friends, almost like a one-sided secret code. It was the most focused Petra had ever seen Kasai. He nodded in understanding, looking so serious he almost wasn't Kasai anymore. He asked her to repeat something once and she back-tracked, but other than that they seemed to be one-hundred percent in-sync.

After almost a minute of this, Kasai turned back to Petra to explain. "I'll paraphrase, cause it was kinda long." He cleared his throat. "Basically, she's suggesting you raise a bridge from the river bottom and—oh, uh, but first, do you know how to do that?" He faltered mid-translation, giving Petra a doubtful look.

Petra pushed her awe to the back of her mind and shook her head. "No, actually, I've only ever thrown rocks on accident."

Kasai nodded. "Oh, yeah, you did mention that. Okay, so anyway, Jarn-Shyr says she can help explain the form if you need her to, and um, basically walk you through the motions, I guess. If you're up to it." Kasai's self-assurance ebbed as his translation came to an end and he returned to the awkward person she knew.

"Umm. . ." Petra's tongue suddenly felt heavy, but whatever haze her mind drifted through evaporated after she registered what he was saying. Then she backed up again. "Okay, wait, so Jarn-Shyr knows how to earthbend?"

Kasai held up his hands in denial. "Ehh, no, no she doesn't. Well, I mean, _technically,_ I _guess_ she does, but she can't actually _bend_ anything. She's, like, trained in the basics—the forms, I mean, and she kinda works her fighting style around all of the elements. She says it wasn't uncommon where she's from."

Petra didn't really follow, but decided it didn't really matter. "Okay, I could give it a shot. But there's more to bending than just executing the movements." She argued.

Kasai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know, but you'll probably just _get_ that part. You're talking about the feeling part, right? Where you sense your element?" Petra nodded. "I mean, that part's not really hard if you know what has to be there. It can't really be explained either though, so I'm kind of just hoping we're on the same page? It's probably different for earth than fire though. . ." He must have noticed he was rambling. "Anyway, when Jarn-Shyr taught me some basic firebending forms, I was more like 'How the heck do you know this?' than 'Is that even possible?' so maybe I wasn't too concerned with the feeling part. I didn't need to focus that hard—it just kind of happened. W-what I'm saying is," Kasai tripped over his words, definitely aware that he was rambling at this point. "Is that the feeling part can't really be taught, even by a bender, so teaching the forms is pretty much the best we can do."

Petra's mind was stuck in that haze again. Kasai talked so much that it put her mind on informational overload. She shook her head to try and dismiss the fog, collecting her thoughts again and remembering the key points of his explanation. How was someone so terrible at talking so good at communication? That applied to both him and Jarn-Shyr, she supposed. She shook her head again because that was _not the point_.

"Uh-hum, okay." _Wow, you sound really intelligent._ She mentally berated herself. "So basically what needs to happen is Jarn-Shyr teaches me the move and I figure out the connection with the actual earth on my own?"

Kasai and Jarn-Shyr both nodded. "Yeah, that's the gist of it." Kasai replied, looking away and scratching at the back of his hand.

"Alright," Petra agreed. "That doesn't sound too hard." She smiled at Jarn-Shyr, excitement lighting up in her chest at the prospect of finally doing some bending. "It's better than nothing, anyway."

—

The term "captain" could be confusing sometimes, especially when he boarded a ship, which was more often than not. Lien knew this, but it was an easily explained issue.

When he told people he was a captain of a ship, he meant he was the captain of the military units boarding the ship, not the ship itself. Given, he was in a position over all of those under him and not just those under him on the ship, but his knack for sailing and naval activities typically found him assigned to a unit boarding a military ship.

Not that he minded. Lien loved the sea. He felt more in-his-element when he was out in the middle of the ocean than when he was working on land. He found the ocean air refreshing and the capricious weather patterns made sure there was never a dull moment. When he was out at sea, the word "captain" blurred its definitions in him and he spoke with a voice that even the higher-ups wouldn't second-guess. Even before his promotion, "Captain Lien" had been a nickname offered up by Kozu due to his savvy understanding of how a ship worked.

But the most confusing (and, admittedly, most embarrassing) part about being a military captain on a ship was when someone called out to the _actual_ captain of the ship and he turned to answer. Kozu never let it go when he noticed.

So when someone called out "Captain!" as he was preparing to get off the ship, Lien hesitated to respond. Kozu was right next to him, so if he looked up and he wasn't the one being called, then he would be subject to another round of teasing and Lien _really_ wasn't up for that kind of thing at the moment.

He regretted it not a minute later, when the title was called again and he looked up, certain that he was the one being called now. Ah, he had let his pride get in the way of his job. Okay, that was a melodramatic way of taking it, but it was more symbolic than anything, Lien decided. He didn't like to think he was a person who let his pride rule his choices, but he couldn't help the bitter bruising he felt at even the slightest doubt in himself.

The fact that it was Captain Hong, his respected senior, who had called out to him made the guilt even worse. He stopped, letting Kozu go on ahead as he fell back to talk with the retiring captain.

"Sorry, Captain Hong, I couldn't hear you over the crowd." Lien lied, smiling at the older man. "Is there something you need?" He had to suppress the instinctive reaction to snap to attention. He and Captain Hong were equals now. Lien could afford to be more lax around him, he assured himself.

"Captain Tosun!" Hong smiled at him, moving a hand to Lien's back to guide him off of the ship as he spoke. He smelled of tobacco just as Lien remembered. "I'm glad I caught you." People seemed to be saying that to him a lot lately. "I was afraid you had left already! I just wanted to say good luck for the future, Lien. I know how hard you work, and you really deserve this promotion!" He grinned. He was missing one or two teeth, probably a result of his addiction. His breath was rancid, but Lien couldn't say he disliked the old man. He had been good at his job, before his lung problems set in, and had taught Lien a lot of what he knew today. Lien was sorry to see him go.

"Thank you, Captain Hong. That's very considerate of you." Lien replied as they made it off of the ramp and on to solid ground. "I hope your retirement goes well. Do you have any plans?"

Hong's dark eyes shone as he laughed. "Oh, Lien, you're so formal! Yes, I'm returning to live with my daughter. I probably don't have many years left in this old sack of skin, so I want to stay close to home until I can be with my wife again."

"That's a comforting thought," Lien agreed. "Thank you, Captain, for your service, and also for teaching me all you did. I'm thankful I could learn from you."

Hong just waved his hand in dismissal. "No, no, Lien, it's nothing! It was only my job. You're a good kid, it was no trouble. Honestly, I'm just happy I knew someone whose hair's whiter than mine!" He guffawed, clasping Lien on his shoulder. Lien politely shared the laugh. Hong collected himself and grinned at Lien again. "I'm glad you learned from me, Captain, and I hope you'll contact me before I give up the ghost. I'll keep at least one foot out of the grave until you need a favor. Feel free to ask anytime."

"Captain Hong," Lien answered, "I'm honored, but you don't have to do anything like that! You should enjoy your retirement."

Hong shook his head. "Ah, but I owe you one, Lien! Need I mention that one time—?"

Lien rose his hands defensively and shook his head quickly. "No, no, there's no need for that!"

"Then remember that, Lien. I'll see you again sometime!" Captain Hong called, waving as he merged with the faceless crowd.

Lien waved back. "Goodbye, Captain."

When Captain Hong had properly vanished among the faces of mingling crew members and strangers, Lien released a heavy sigh. He didn't dislike Captain Hong, but the man had a tendency to carry on meaningless conversation that Lien simply couldn't get behind. Even when they were on duty, Hong preferred to strike up a conversation than let the crew drift in silence. Simply put, they never took him on stealth missions.

Lien turned to confront the towering mass of cargo waiting to be unloaded from the ship. That would have to be confronted after break. Lien needed at least an hour to refresh his mind before he tackled that task. He sought out Kozu in the crowd and made his way toward him.

—

Earthbending was harder than Petra would have liked to admit. Kasai had made it sound so easy, but what did he know? It wasn't even his element. The guy might as well have been a nonbender for all the help he offered.

Her spite was mostly a product of her shame and frustration. She couldn't exactly blame her friends for her inexperience, but it wasn't necessarily her fault either. What was she supposed to do, throw bigger rocks at Shuu's windows until the UNE showed up to take her away?

But she knew the feeling Kasai had been talking about. It was a tugging at her insides, a weight in her arms; it pressed down on her like an invisible mountain. She needed to summon that feeling and control it. Earth wasn't like the other three elements. One had to establish dominance. She couldn't move with it but she couldn't go against it either. She needed to come to an agreement with the earth, but that was easier said than done.

"Ugh!" Petra stomped her foot in exasperation. "Stupid rocks. You're, like, the _worst_ element ever!"

Jarn-Shyr fretted over to her, shaking her hands up and down to try and distract Petra from her irritation. "Hey, now," Kasai said with a sheepish smile. Petra couldn't tell if he was translating or using his own words.

"How about going through the motions again?" He suggested, or maybe it was Jarn-Shyr. Petra was losing her focus.

"We've been at it for at least an hour now," Petra argued. Jarn-Shyr shook her head and pointed up at the sun.

"'Actually, it's only been twenty minutes,' she says." Kasai announced, looking up at the sky. "Or maybe that's fifteen?" He thought aloud.

Petra groaned and plopped down onto the bank of the river. "Well, it _feels_ like it's been _forever_." She sighed, staring out at the unchanged river. She hadn't managed to raise even a pebble, but somehow she felt like she'd been lifting boulders for the past several hours. If this was what it took to earthbend, she wasn't sure it was even worth it.

"M-maybe it's time for a break, then." Kasai suggested. He and Jarn-Shyr took a seat around Petra, digging out their water canteens. Petra already had hers sitting on a fallen log behind her.

They sat around for several minutes, silently drinking from their canisters. Kasai looked uncomfortable with the way no one said anything. Petra was too irritable to care. What wasn't she doing right? She knew she had the movement down, so why couldn't she get that feeling to come back? Was she messing up her stance? She would have to check next time.

Petra sighed. There _would_ be a next time, because they didn't have another option and the others wouldn't let her quit. She thought back to the first time she had earthbent, fooling around in the backyard. She had been playing UNE versus the benders, viewing the story from both sides and not holding a bias either way; she had been younger then, without any grudge to hold against the world, so it was easy.

She remembered playing a UNE soldier, telling off an earthbender for breaking the law. But the bender had stood up against the soldier, and Petra fought in his place as well. Her mother watched on fondly as she reenacted the story she had heard a million times. The bender would stand in a steady stance, boast about feeling the earth, about understanding the world better than anyone because he could touch its soul.

That was when she had felt it the first time, the sensation of an element responding to a bender. She remembered the expression of horror on her mother's face—it was blurry, but she could still see it. Surely it hadn't been so long that Petra would forget her own mother's face?

Kasai coughed awkwardly, wrenching Petra from her thoughts. "Oh," she said, standing up suddenly and startling the other two. "I think I know what to do now," she continued, "so, uh, I'll give it another go."

"Ah—um, okay," Kasai replied slowly. "Go ahead, then. Was I being weird?" He added in a whisper to Jarn-Shyr as Petra went back to her position. Jarn-Shyr shrugged at him and they turned their attention back to the other.

Petra lowered herself into her stance. She knew the motion now, but like Kasai said that wasn't the main point of bending. If she could feel the earth, the movement would just come to her, like it had that summer evening behind her house. If she could feel the earth, she could touch it, move it, just like the man in the story.

So this time, she focused less on her actions and more on the earth around her. She listened to the river and searched beneath it. It was a little deeper than she had anticipated, she discovered, but that she could sense this at all was an improvement. She tried not to let that distract her. She pictured the scene without water, without the trees or the sky or either of the people behind her. It was just her and the earth. She felt the weight of it suck the air from her lungs. The world was very heavy. She held her ground against it, not pushing back but not crumpling beneath the pressure either. It was a standoff, and as she refused to lose. She held on to that feeling as she executed the movements Jarn-Shyr had taught her, altering them slightly to better suit her instinct. The earth backed down. The weight lessened, but didn't vanish. The only way she could describe it was acknowledgment. She felt like the earth had recognized her and only moved because of that. Rock was a stubborn substance to work with, but it yielded the sturdiest results.

When Petra snapped back to reality, her senses were assaulted. The water flooded back in and Kasai was cheering behind her, Jarn-Shyr clapping along. The forest appeared and she felt air return to her lungs. She would have to learn to breathe while she did that.

"Nice job, Petra!" Kasai exclaimed, coming up behind her and giving her a heavy clap on the back. Petra stumbled forward, her knees almost giving way. She felt absolutely drained. So much for not exhausting herself just to cross a river. Kasai caught her arm and helped steady her before she fell.

"Don't die yet!" He and Jarn-Shyr went to gather their things. "That's a pretty impressive bridge. I couldn't do anything that fancy with fire," he admitted in a quieter voice. "I think Jarn-Shyr's holdin' out on me. She thinks I'm too weak to handle anything cool."

Jarn-Shyr shot him a glare, making him jump behind Petra for protection. "Ahh, you're so mean to me, Jarn-Shyr!" He wailed. "I am-too responsible enough to not burn down the camp!"

Jarn-Shyr scoffed and Petra laughed. "Is that really what she said?" Petra asked. "It's so true, though."

Jarn-Shyr gave her an easy look to read. _I know, right?_ it said. Petra laughed again. "You guys kill me."

—

Harumi's head appeared again, this time among several boxes of cargo. "Is the coast clear?" She asked Chee, whose head popped out of her shirt moments later. He chittered a response. "Good," Harumi said, scanning the area a final time.

She took a breath, bracing herself for the next thirty seconds. She didn't have any other choice. Everything she had done to get here was illegal anyway, so doing this wouldn't be much worse. It was her only option. It was her only choice. She just had to keep telling herself these things.

Making sure her cloak was secure around her shoulders, she jumped over a box and darted out into the open.

—

Petra, Kasai and Jarn-Shyr gathered their belongings and set off across the bridge at noon, watching their steps on the shakier parts. Water rose up to meet them, soaking Petra's boots and the edges of Jarn-Shyr's skirt. She lifted the fabric above her ankles to try and keep it from getting any worse.

"Oh my gosh, you guys, oh my gosh, oh my—! Oh spirits," Kasai fretted about breathlessly behind them, clinging to Jarn-Shyr and making a pathetic whimpering noise when the water splash up his leg. Petra rolled her eyes so hard it hurt.

"Kasai!" She called back as he yelped again. "It's _just water!_ It's not going to kill you! You drink it all the time!"

"It's not the water that scares me!" Kasai shouted back indignantly, sounding flustered. "I just don't want to get pulled in if a freak wave comes along! You could have made your bridge a little wider!"

Petra grumbled irritably. He was pointing out something she had noted as soon as she had bent the earth. But it was too late now—she didn't have it in her to widen the bridge and she was too proud to admit she had messed up. They were halfway across, he could hang on until they reached the other side. "If you wanted something better, maybe you shouldn't've set your expectations so high for an inexperienced _beginner_ , Kasai."

"I know, I'm sorry!" Kasai agonized. "I'm just really concerned about drowning, is all! You know I sink like a—AH!"

Petra snapped her head around so fast she almost got whiplash. Focused on his worrying, Kasai's foot had slipped on a particularly slick section of the bridge. He pitched to the left, his leg plunging into the cool river water.

Petra lurched forward to help him, but Jarn-Shyr was both faster and closer. She steadied herself on the bridge and shot her hands forward, one grabbing his right wrist and the other hooking under his left armpit.

His momentum pulled her with him, so Petra jumped in to steady them completely. Kasai's foot scrabbled for a hold as Petra and Jarn-Shyr pulled him back to safety. His face was white with terror. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"You alright?!" Petra gasped, her knees shaking as the adrenaline that had thrown her into action wore off.

"Y-yeah," Kasai stuttered, mumbling his thanks. Petra suddenly wasn't so annoyed with him anymore.

"Let's keep going," she suggested, calmer now. They inched along more carefully, and for once Kasai didn't try to speak up. Petra glanced back at him to make sure it wasn't because he actually had drowned. He stared determinedly at his feet, probably to hide his flaming face as much as to make sure he didn't slip up again. He clutched at one of Jarn-Shyr's hand with his own. She didn't seem to mind. Petra made a mental note to widen the bridge next time.

—

Lien pretended not to notice the crinkling in his pocket. He ignored it during break and he ignored it while instructing the laborers to move the cargo. He didn't want to deal with that problem yet, but eventually he couldn't put it off any longer.

He agreed to the drink with Kozu, not because he was actually going to drink (He was an underaged government official, after all. What kind of example would that set?), but because he wanted another distraction. But sooner than later he left, disgusted by his friend's drunken antics.

It was evening now, and Lien was dismissed to his quarters aboard the ship for the night. He entered his newly-inherited private cabin, one of the perks of his promotion. It smelled like Captain Hong's tobacco, much to his chagrin. Now it would soak into his clothes and people would smell it on him. He hoped the smell alone wasn't enough to affect his lungs.

Changing out of his uniform, Lien almost didn't notice the scroll that fell to the floor, neatly tied with a black ribbon. He froze halfway through removing his trousers. Leaning down, he picked the scroll up, set it on the cot and finished preparing for bed. He came back to it with a sigh, running his hand through his too-white hair and undoing the ribbon reluctantly.

This was a problem. It was also an opportunity. Lien wasn't sure whether he was supposed to feel dread or excitement, but a mixture of both settled in the pit of his stomach as he reviewed the letter once more.

 _Captain Lien Tosun,_ the note read.

 _Congratulations on your promotion. I'm sure you'll work hard to live up to the title. Fortunately, opportunity knocks at unexpected moments. As you know, the government has been taking in several people suspected of housing benders._

 _Recently, a woman was arrested for hiding her daughter, a suspected bender, from the government for several years. Eventually, we were able to work some surprising information from her. It's amazing how loud a bird will sing with enough incentive._

Lien suppressed a shiver. That was hardly subtle. He knew the lengths the government would go to for information and just thinking about it made him scowl with distaste.

 _The Avatar is heading your way, Captain. We don't know what she looks like—the witch wouldn't tell us that much. We've discarded her since getting what we could. The Avatar should be there by the time you dock in the Central Kingdom. We know she's headed to the Western Archipelago, so chances are she'll board your ship. I want you to find her and arrest her. I'm securing an heirloom with this message. See if you can use it to expose her. It should provoke a reaction—it was her mother's, after all._

It was signed simply with the UNE crest, but Lien knew this handwriting. This letter came directly from the ringleader himself.

As promised, a necklace had been attached to the message. It was a simple leather string linking four clay beads colored yellow, blue, green and red. Lien scoffed softly. How could any ally of the benders be so blatantly obvious? _It was only a matter of time for that woman_ , he admitted grimly.

Rolling the scroll up again and setting the necklace beside it, he sighed and tucked himself into his cot. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a long day.

—

 **{I made this chapter a bit longer, to my own surprise. I had planned to stop writing right after Petra built the bridge, but my hands decided to keep typing. Suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for reading! ^u^}**


	4. Chapter 4

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter Four

Petra, Kasai and Jarn-Shyr set up camp a few miles from the harbor town. Jarn-Shyr's skirt had dried as they walked, but Petra and Kasai's shoes were still soggy. They set them around the campfire to help the process along.

Kasai had bounced back from his near-death experience quickly, as if it had never happened. As soon as the river was out of sight he was cracking more lame jokes about trees. Petra wasn't sure if she would ever recover from the string of horrible puns about tree bark and leaves. Jarn-Shyr had made sure to smack him upside the head for her.

It was dark outside, but the fire lit up the area around them so Petra could see the faces of her friends. Kasai was humming softly to himself, leaning back on his sleeping mat and kicking his feet lazily near the fire with a pleasant smile on his face. Jarn-Shyr was reading something in her lap that Petra couldn't see from where she sat.

Petra lay down on her own mat, studying the stars above her. It was the same sky she had seen every day since she had left her home, and for a minute she wondered how her mother was doing. She had pushed Petra out in a hurry as UNE soldiers came in from the east, telling her everything would be alright as long as she made it to the Western Archipelago.

They were a day's walk and a boat ride away from that destination now. Petra was so close. She wondered what Bender's Isle would look like: probably benders from all over the world in a city hidden somewhere underground or in the trees. The thought of meeting more people like her excited Petra. Bender's Isle was supposed to be a sanctuary for all benders, which meant there might be someone there who could help her really hone her skills (because, if she was being honest, surviving on Jarn-Shyr's basic knowledge wasn't really getting her anywhere). She could find someone who understood the earth, who understood the connection one had to establish. She wasn't excited about the physical exertion part, but that could be easily overlooked if it meant she could become strong enough to one day find her mother again.

She turned on her side and tucked her arm under her head. Jarn-Shyr had put her reading material away and was stretching, preparing for the first watch. Kasai was still humming, but his eyelids were drooping and the notes slurred together as they decreased in volume. These were the kinds of people Petra was going to spend the next months (maybe years, even) with: people who she could relax around, people who accepted her bending and didn't look at her like something to destroy.

It was with these pleasant thoughts in mind and memories of home that she drifted slowly into sleep.

—

"This is a problem I had not anticipated," Kasai admitted, shaking his head solemnly at the line ahead of them. It wasn't nearly as large as the ferry station at Fully Moon Bay, thank the Spirits, but there was still a line leading to the ticket booth and a bitter woman turning away anyone without a passport. Kasai wasn't sure if he liked the way her beady eyes scrutinized every traveler. Apparently, customer satisfaction wasn't part of the deal around here.

"What do we do?" Petra groaned as they drew closer. Kasai hadn't suspected that Petra would come without a passport of any kind. She had argued that she had never needed one before and hadn't had time to get one. They were running out of time to come up with a solution.

Jarn-Shyr tugged on his sleeve and he turned, shocked at what she suggested.

"Jarn-Shyr! We are not stealing anyone's passport!" he hissed, glaring around to make sure no one had heard her, forgetting that she hadn't voiced her thoughts aloud.

 _What else are we supposed to do?_ She retorted. He scowled at the sass in her tone.

"I don't know, but not that!"

The next person was called. They were losing time.

They all took a minute to think. Panic was rising in Kasai's throat and he felt numb, like he wasn't in control of his own body. He shouldn't be this worried over something so _minimal_ —they could easily step out of line, but that might look strange, right? He didn't want the people behind them looking at them funny—backtracking in public was social suicide. Besides, they didn't have time to go all the way through the line again.

He cursed himself internally. He wasn't supposed to be so heavily influenced by what others thought of him. He was always told that other people would judge him no matter what he did, so taking a step out of line should take priority over not looking like a total idiot. Who would care, anyway? No one. They might even appreciate the time cut from their waiting, but Kasai couldn't overlook his own anxiety. It rattled him internally until his fingertips shook, but he disguised it by nervously fidgeting with the hem of his tunic. No one would care if he stepped out of line. No one would think he was stupid. No one would mock him for being indecisive. So why did he think they would?

Jarn-Shyr broke through his thoughts by tapping him on the arm. He met her eyes again and was disturbed by the grim light they took on. _I can use my passport,_ she suggested.

Kasai's panic melted away and a new, cautious feeling took over. They had agreed not to use it before. Jarn-Shyr's passport used characters he wasn't familiar with. It was a language he couldn't read, she had explained before. He didn't understand; there was only one universal language and it had been that way for a long time. Her passport must have been ancient, if what she said was true. That or she was a time traveler. She had slapped him for being stupid when he'd suggested that, but refused to tell him the real reason. He still thought it would be cool if she was actually an alien or something (she'd slapped him for that too).

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Jarn-Shyr." Kasai cautioned. "They won't be able to read it."

"What's not a good idea?" Petra asked, feeling out of the loop. She had been standing by for some time now, unable to think of a solution herself. They ignored her.

 _It's still labeled as an official document. Besides, I don't need to get there as much as you do. If they don't take it, I'll survive._

"Jarn-Shyr," his tone held a warning. "You know I'm not leaving you. Don't be stupid, let's think of something else." They were three people away, now.

Jarn-Shyr was becoming irritated. She was signing less and less, but Kasai could still read her. _You've seen it, Kasai. There's a translation on the back, they'll take it._

"But _still_ ," Kasai stressed the second word, searching for another response. As much as he hated to admit it, Jarn-Shyr made a convincing argument. She wasn't a bender, so surviving on her own might even be safer than tagging along with him and Petra. They didn't have another passport, and they _weren't_ stealing one. Jarn-Shyr implored him silently. They were two people away now.

"Alright," he consented begrudgingly, the urgent expression on her face and the ever shortening line finally swaying him. He folded his arms nervously and tried to quell the nauseous feeling rising in his throat. The people in front of them finished faster than he would have liked, and soon they were handing in their passports.

The woman paused at Jarn-Shyr's, glaring at them over the parchment. "What's the meaning of this?" She grumbled, unamused.

"Th-there's a translation on the back," Kasai stuttered. "It's from way up north. . .or east. . ." His voice trailed off to an uncomfortable murmur. The woman rolled her eyes and flipped the parchment over, reading the translation.

"Carry on, then," she droned, stamping the passport and handing them all tickets. They shuffled away, relief making Kasai weak in the knees.

 _I told you it would work,_ Jarn-Shyr signed.

"What the heck was that?" Petra nearly shouted. "What's wrong with her passport?"

"It's written in some really awful handwriting." Kasai joked, then shook his head. "It isn't written in any language I know. It's probably just really old or something. I've had my suspicions that Jarn-Shyr is actually just a really old woman who retains her youth by sucking it out of other unsuspecting young beauties. Better watch out, Petra. You might be next—Ow!" He rubbed his arm, pouting. "Aw, come on Jess! The way you dress I think it's a simple assumption—!" He cried out again as Petra and Jarn-Shyr punched and slapped him respectively.

"My name came from an old language too." Petra commented as Kasai recovered from the ladies' vengeance. "Maybe they're the same?" Jarn-Shyr shook her head. Petra shrugged. "Okay then."

Jarn-Shyr scoffed at Kasai quietly. _You got so worked up over it. I told you it would work._

"I had every right to be concerned," Kasai argued. "All your talk about being alright even if you couldn't pass through got me thinking about all the other things that could go wrong."

 _Well, it's true. I don't need to go into hiding like you two, and I can take care of myself. You're priority anyway—_

Her signing was cut off as Kasai turned abruptly and crushed her in a tight hug, catching her off-guard. "Don't even _think_ like that," Kasai muttered, voice tinged with bitterness.

Jarn-Shyr looked at him in surprise, then hesitantly rested her hands on his back. _That's not what I meant—_

"But you were thinking it. I could see it on your face."

She didn't argue.

"Just. . . don't do anything like that again, okay?"

Jarn-Shyr hesitated. He noticed. No promises. _Alright._

He inhaled sharply and broke the embrace, clasping his hands on her shoulders and smiling down at her. "Good to hear! I'm glad that's out of the way. Now come on, guys! Let's get on that boat!" He marched ahead, laughing like whatever had just happened hadn't actually just happened.

"What was all that about?" Petra whispered to Jarn-Shyr as they followed along, letting Kasai's terrible jokes melt into white noise.

Jarn-Shyr just shrugged in reply, but Petra didn't miss the small smile on the younger girl's lips.

—

Inside the cargo compartment of the ship, Harumi was dealing with some serious neck cramps. Cramming herself and a small rodent in a box might not have been her best idea, but it was the only thing she could think of that would get her on the ship unnoticed. Now, it was coming back to bite her. Or maybe that was just Chee after she crushed his tail for the thousandth time.

"Sorry," she whispered as he chittered angrily, looking for a loose nail or board. The box itself was roomy, but the cargo inside was taking up a lot of room. Some pieces to some dumb UNE contraption, probably, judging by the crest sloppily painted over the material. Harumi kicked at the side of the box while trying to avoid getting stabbed by the cargo.

"Stupid—government—always—ruining— _everything_ —ah!" The side of the box gave way and she fell back on the parts. "Ow," she muttered, following Chee out of the box.

The room she found herself in was almost completely dark and packed to the ceiling with boxes. She found herself climbing over cargo just to find a real wall. It smelled like damp wood and the warm atmosphere warned of future mildew. She tried to keep her cloak from picking up splinters.

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Harumi asked Chee exasperatedly. "Would the loading bay even have an entrance to the rest of the boat? Why am I asking these questions now?" She groaned and ran a hand over her face, rubbing at her tired eyes and then moving to massage her neck. _Okay, let's think for a minute._

Reasonably speaking, there should be an exit that doesn't involve falling into the ocean. The UNE probably have people to check on the cargo throughout the trip, to make sure fragile boxes haven't spilled on their side or anything. All she had to do was find the door.

Harumi followed the walls, searching for irregularities or any indication of an exit. "It really is dark in here, huh Chee?" Harumi called, discomfort building in her nasal as the darkness pressed around her. "Spirits, I need to learn to think things through."

She found the door minutes later, shuffling blind through the unlit room. Chee found his way up to her shoulder as she felt around for a doorknob. She jostled the knob a few times. "Locked," she concluded. "Hm," she tapped at her chin. "I could bust it open, but that might cause a commotion." She reached up to her shoulder to pet Chee. "Look's like we're stuck here until someone comes in—"

As she spoke, the doorknob was turned from the other side. Harumi's breath caught in her throat and adrenaline shot through her chest. "Too soon, too soon," she whispered and dove behind a stack of cargo. The door opened a second after she settled.

". . . Yeah, and I thought we had it bad," a deep, female voice called back through the hall. "Turn's out the Captain's leaving his crew in the hands of a kid. Glad I'm not part of the military division; I'm not listening to some kid boss me around out in the field."

The person she was talking to walked in behind her. "I hear he's pretty smart though, like he knows what he's doing and all that. He's got high praise from a lot of higher officers." His voice was a bit higher pitched than his accomplice. Harumi worked her way around the boxes to keep herself out of sight while simultaneously getting closer to the door.

The woman scoffed. "A kid like that's probably got an ego to match his position. That's a destructive path he's going down. I'd hate to have anything to do with him."

Harumi inched closer to the door as they moved deeper into the room, guided by the light from the hallway.

The man shrugged. "It's none of my business. As long as it doesn't ruin my paycheck, I don't really care." They snickered.

Harumi lost their conversation as she made her way closer to the door. She glanced around the doorframe, careful not to get spotted. There was no one in the hallway. Double checking that the guards wouldn't see her, she tucked Chee down into her robes and took off silently down the hall, her feet landing so lightly the noise was almost nonexistent.

She found her way to the deck without any trouble, bursting out into open air minutes after her escape from the cargo room. Passengers swarmed the boat without giving her a second glance, dressed in colorless clothing identical to hers, making it easy to slip into the crowd. She pulled her hood back up over her head and smiled to herself. _Excellently executed,_ she praised herself and disappeared among the passengers.

—

Lien was up with the sun, preparing for the ship's departure as well as his own personal mission. Finding the Avatar was his top priority, but he needed to be as discreet as possible. Letting the other officers know would stir up conversation and bring him attention he didn't need. Not to mention, other people would interfere, which would just make his job harder. He needed to be subtle, but not suspiciously sneaky.

Currently, he smiled and nodded politely to passengers as they boarded, an action required not by his job but by his own desire to get a jump start on searching for the Avatar. He had the necklace around his neck in plain view, keeping his chin high as he stood straight to help show it off. His uniform helped him stand out enough, and he knew any bender would give him at least a sideways glance filled with caution. He hoped that the necklace would catch her eye, and she would do a double-take as soon as she recognized it. It was a shot in the dark, yes, but Lien was experienced with gambling.

He smiled at another passenger and placed his right hand in the fold of his tunic. He rubbed his thumb over a small, smooth piece of wood and suppressed a concentrated frown. It was time to capture the Jasmine. *****

—

Getting on the boat was a struggle for Kasai. He kept tripping over his feet on the gangplank. By the time they made it on the actual vessel he was very flustered and very red. Petra suspected the bridge incident was replaying itself in his mind.

It was a slow process. People in front of them moved slowly and kept stopping. Petra was beginning to lose her patience.

"Can we get moving, please?" She muttered as a woman slowly guided her tottering infant up the plank by its hands. The woman gave her a dirty look, but scooped her child up and carried it the rest of the way despite its protests. Petra rolled her eyes. "Spirits, children are so obnoxious."

Jarn-Shyr laughed quietly and patted Petra's shoulder lightly. It felt unbelievably sarcastic.

"Thank goodness," Kasai groaned as they finally made it onto the boat. "It felt like we would never make it on."

"Enjoy the voyage," a warm voice hummed. Petra looked up to see an officer smiling at them, bowing slightly with his hand resting in the fold of his shirt. Petra blinked twice at his appearance, shocked that someone so young could have such white hair.

"Thank you," Petra replied politely as he stood back up, smiling back in a trained manner. As they moved away from the gangplank, Petra's head snapped back in the officer's direction, her stomach slowly filling with icy dread.

Around his neck, worn proudly for all to see, was a simple leather string strung with clay beads of yellow, blue, green and red coloring.

He noticed her stare and smiled back at her, his eyes meeting hers only for a second before he continued to greet the boarding passengers.

"Something wrong, Petra?" Kasai asked, following her eyes.

Petra watched the officer for another moment, then shook her head slowly. "What a coincidence," she murmured, face stony. "My mother had a necklace just like that."

—

 **{Alright, another chapter done. Sorry it took so long, I'm doing my best to work around some things but I don't have much free time that I don't spend sleeping. ^-^ I hope you enjoyed it, especially one particular person who was very excited for this to come out. I'm flattered and sorry to keep you waiting.**

 *** "Capture the Jasmine"—** a reference to the game of Pai Sho. The Jasmine piece starts on the Home Port and forms harmonies with the Lily and Rhododendron pieces. In context, this is a reference to how Lien is going to capture Petra, _appearing_ to make him the Rose or White Dragon piece. **}**


	5. Chapter 5

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter Five

Distress settled itself just beneath the surface of Petra's consciousness as the boat pushed away from the harbor. Watching the land get further and further filled her with both relief and fear. They were finally making obvious headway to the bender safe-haven she'd heard so much about, but they were trapped on a rickety vessel just crawling with UNE officials.

The image of the white-haired officer with the kind smile crept back into Petra's mind as she stared up at the darkening sky. Sprawled on the deck with her hands behind her head, she scrunched her nose at the memory of his voice, his face, and the way that his eyes seemed to flicker with _knowing_ when he'd noticed her stare.

That necklace… There was no doubt in her mind. It was the same one her mother used to wear around the house. The only thing preventing her from acknowledging this was the denial of what it would entail. If that necklace was the _exact same necklace_ that her mother wore, then that would mean her mother—

"—Oh, er, Spirits— _Chee!_ "

Petra's thoughts were cut off by a poorly-stifled ruckus from behind her. She sat up and glanced back, watching as a cloaked figure wrestled with something while balancing a bowl of stew in the other hand. "Stop moving! You're going to give us away!"

For someone trying to be so discreet, this person was really causing a commotion. People next to her were starting to look up from what they were doing. She scooted slightly, getting closer to Petra. Suddenly, the hooded figure yelped and fell back into Petra, spilling soup all over the earthbender.

"Hot!" Petra hissed, doing her best to wipe off as much of the liquid as she could before it could soak into her clothes. Chunks of (questionable) meat caught in the folds of her pants and an unknown, stringy vegetable clung to her hair.

The stranger bumbled about, stuttering an apology as her face slowly deepened in its red hue. The people surrounding them gradually lost interest, turning back to whatever they'd been doing before. Petra looked around for Kasai and Jarn-Shyr, who had left to find some food, but couldn't see them anywhere. Maybe that was for the best; Kasai would probably laugh at her anyway.

"I am _so_ sorry!" The cloaked girl finally forced out, fidgeting like she was wrestling something under her cloak. Up close, Petra could see she had angular features; bony hands and a thin face with wide, watery-gray eyes. She was flustered and red in the face, making Petra bite back a rude comment about watching where she was going. "I'll help you clean up—oh my goodness—I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it," Petra shushed her, aware that some people were still watching them. "It'll dry."

The girl worked with frenzied hands, plucking meat and potatoes and mystery veggies off of Petra, which was getting a little more handsy than Petra generally liked. Soon enough, her patience snapped and Petra slapped her hands away with a "Would you cut it out?!" She began to clean herself. The girl sat by awkwardly, not wanting to leave since this was all her fault, but not wanting to stay because of the discomfort rising in her throat.

"I-I'm Harumi!" she blurted suddenly, as if she was desperate to get at least _something_ out of her mouth. Petra looked up, raised an eyebrow.

"Petra," she replied, then went back to her cleaning.

Harumi fidgeted. "S-so, are you traveling alone?"

Petra glanced at the now-visible lump underneath Harumi's clothes. "Are you?"

Harumi flushed again, hand shooting to the lump. "Good question," she laughed awkwardly and her eyes drifted to the side, like she was searching for an escape. She jumped a little, and a small, red-and-white head poked itself out of her shirt. Harumi swallowed. "He's a—a seeing-eye ferret!"

Petra blinked slowly. "You're not blind." Harumi's eyes were too clear.

Harumi's expression blanked, like her mind had shorted. Petra could practically read her thought process: _I can't believe I just said that. Why did I even think that would work?_

"He's…my aunt's?" She suggested hopefully. When Petra said nothing, she heaved a sigh and slouched, pulling the fire ferret into her lap. "I'm sorry, I know animals aren't allowed on board. Please don't report me!"

Petra stared uncomfortably. "H-hey, now, don't worry. I don't even care. I mean, it doesn't affect me, so…"

Harumi brightened immediately. "Really? Thanks so much! You're pretty cool, Petra!" She hesitated. "Did I say it right? Petra?"

"Yeah, Petra." Petra affirmed.

"Oh, thank goodness."

There was a beat of silence. Then:

"Petra! We managed to get some food! Jarn-Shyr almost beat up an old man, but we got it!" Kasai approached with Jarn-Shyr beside him. "Who's you're friend?"

Harumi's hands tightened around her ferret, who squeaked angrily. "I'm Harumi," she introduced, "and this is Chee."

"Whoa!" Kasai gushed, falling to his knees and hastily setting the bowl he'd been carrying aside. "I've never seen a fire ferret before! I mean, they're not _uncommon_ , where I'm from, but wow, I've never seen one so close!" He brought his finger up to Chee's nose. Chee hissed and scrambled back under Harumi's shirt. Kasai looked devastated.

Jarn-Shyr sat her two bowls down beside Petra and leaned curiously over Kasai's shoulder. She rubbed his back comfortingly.

"Don't take it personally," Harumi said in a rush. "We're not used to people."

"I totally feel that," Petra nodded. She smiled brightly at Kasai. "Don't take it personally, tons of animals don't like you!"

Kasai gave her a bland look. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better."

Petra shrugged, still grinning mischievously.

Kasai turned to Harumi again. "So are you heading to the Western Archipelago? Or are you making the roundabout trip?"

"One-way," Harumi confirmed. "I have family out there, so I'll be staying with them for a while."

Kasai nodded. "That's neat. I have family out there too, but my immediate family's from Ba Sing Se." He glanced at Jarn-Shyr, then grinned. "You're welcome to hang around if you want. I'm sure none of us mind…"

Jarn-Shyr shook her head, and then all three sets of eyes landed on Petra for the final verdict.

"Ah, um…" She stuttered, not enjoying the weight of their attention after trying to live so inconspicuously for so long. "Sure, yeah. I don't have a problem with it."

"Great!" Kasai said.

Harumi smiled gratefully. "Thanks, that's really cool of you. Especially after I… spilled my soup all over you… eheh." She laughed awkwardly. Silence settled again.

Kasai, ever determined to uphold conversation, picked it up again. "So, um, how long is this boat ride again?" He asked, trying to sound casual, but Petra could detect the underlying tension, like he was reliving the bridge episode, or possibly any others that had happened before she knew him. "Cause I mean, boats are great and all—good technology—but I'm really not digging this whole 'surrounded by water on all sides' theme it's got going on."

Petra shrugged. "I dunno. It's kinda boring though. They should really invest on making these things more exciting."

Harumi laughed. "Well, it is _technically_ a cargo ship. They're not necessarily built for entertainment." She contemplated the initial question. "We'll probably be off in a week or so. They have to get the produce to port quickly so they're still fresh for trade, I think, and the distance doesn't look too far on a map."

Kasai sighed with relief. "That's good to hear."

They carried on like that for a while, with pointless chatter and only, like, two awkward conversations. Chee came out of Harumi's shirt occasionally, and after a while he and Kasai had formed something of a passive aggressive friendship. Much to Kasai's chagrin, Chee seemed to prefer Jarn-Shyr, who fed him scraps of expired jerky from her bag silently as Kasai wailed with jealous despair. At some point, Kasai groaned something about needing to bond with Chee because they were "bachelors in a world of dangerous women", at which Petra and Jarn-Shyr high-fived and Harumi laughed.

As it got darker and workers came around with spark rocks lighting lanterns, Kasai asked if Harumi wanted to hang around their area.

"You're sure it's okay?" Harumi asked, hopeful but nervous. There was a chorus of agreement from the group, and she smiled. "Awesome! Let me just grab my sleeping bag…"

Harumi picked her way carefully around the crowded deck, off to remember where she'd left her belongings.

"She's pretty nice," Kasai noted, watching her go. "It'd be neat if she could hang around us after we get off this ship."

Jarn-Shyr gave him a warning glance. "You know why we can't do that," Petra said in a hushed voice, and she almost felt like _she_ was the one translating this time.

Kasai raised his hands defensively. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighed. "It's just… It would be nice to make more friends, y'know?"

Jarn-Shyr and Petra exchanged a glance. Petra took a deep breath and straightened up, unfolding her legs and running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I know." She whispered. "I know what you're saying, Kasai." Petra looked up in the direction Harumi had walked off in. Petra could see her down near the end of the dock, laughing awkwardly with one of her previous neighbors and looking desperate to get away.

"She's nice and all," Petra said finally, "but, statistically speaking, the chances of her being a nonbender are too high for us to risk anything. And—" she added quickly, eyes shifting over Jarn-Shyr. "—even if she's not anti-bender, I wouldn't want to put her in danger by revealing our identities. If she knowingly helped a bender, she'd be in the same position as Jarn-Shyr." Petra exhaled quietly. "We'd probably get her killed." She murmured.

No one said anything after that. Sometimes, Petra forgot how illegal her existence was. It was so easy to pretend she was normal that she still hadn't gotten used to being a full-time criminal. It wasn't even fair—why should she be paying a price for something she couldn't control? And why did other people, nonbenders who felt the same sense of justice, have to pay the same?

 _Whoever's sitting comfortably up-top better pay me back in full. With interest._ Petra thought darkly. _Actually, that was a pretty good one. I'm gonna say that out loud._

"Whoever's—" she started, but was cut off by the arrival of Harumi.

"I'm sorry for taking so long! This hairy guy was sitting on my sleeping bag and I didn't want to, like, kick him off. But it's my sleeping bag, so it was super awkward, haha." She set her stuff down and looked at Petra. "Sorry, did I interrupt you?"

Petra smiled hollowly. "Ah, no. Not at all…"

Harumi relaxed. "Oh, good!"

 _Ah, an opportunity missed._ Petra brooded silently. She stored the line away for later—probably better to use that as a one-liner during a fight anyway.

They set up for bed, laughing about the hairy guy, and Kasai swore he saw a wiry hair or two caught in the fabric. Chee was bothering Jarn-Shyr for more treats, which she'd hidden in her bag. She handed him another scrap of jerky and he ran back to Harumi. Petra stacked their empty bowls by the ship's wooden guardrail and watched the people grouped in front of her.

This was no where near how she'd expected her life to go, but she was strangely okay with that. Everyone was happy here, and the more she thought about it, the easier it was to convince herself there were only good things ahead. She had friends now, and she had a safe place to go; she could wait it out until the UNE was taken down by some professional rebellion. Then, when it was safe enough to come out again, she could confront the world.

 _Could you?_

The voice was small, a niggling doubt in the back of her mind, but those two words morphed the content smile on her face to something between concern and dismay.

Could she face the world after hiding away for so long? What would people even think of her, after she spent who knows how many years running away? She was a coward, really, and that was all. _Could you really do that?_

"Petra?"

Kasai's concerned voice startled her from her thoughts, and Petra looked up to see all eyes on her. "Everything okay?"

Petra swallowed, but her throat was dry. "Oh, yeah, sorry." She cleared her throat. "Thought I saw another hair on the sleeping bag."

Harumi jumped and looked down. "Ugh, where?! This is _so_ disgusting."

While she and Kasai searched for the nonexistent hair, Petra back-tracked into her thoughts. _That's just stupid,_ she told herself. _Who knows what'll happen in the future? Maybe no one will even overthrow the UNE._

And then what? Was she really hoping the UNE would prevail, just so she didn't have to face her responsibilities?

Petra watched the others settle down to sleep. What she had now was so nice, so easy. Why should she have to be the one to do anything? Just because of some birthright that probably wasn't even real in the first place?

Petra pulled her blanket over herself and sighed. _Who knows?_ She thought wryly. _Maybe I will save the world._

—

Lien had the girl's image carved into his eyelids. She was the only person who'd reacted so oddly to his appearance (aside from some judgy grandma who just _had_ to comment on his hair) throughout the whole boarding process. She _had_ to be the Avatar. The only problem now was isolating her and her friends (they were also potential benders) without causing a scene on this cargo ship.

His mattress creaked under him as he shifted. It was late, and his room was dark by now. The only sounds that reached his ears were the constant heft of waves against the ship and the occasional cough of a passenger camped above. The ship swayed steadily, as if rocking its passengers to sleep, but Lien was wide awake.

He liked to think he was above pre-mission anxiety sometimes, but that was just the image he projected. Lien didn't get jittery often, but when someone as world-changing as _the Avatar_ showed up he couldn't just tell himself to calm down.

Especially if he actually went through with what he was planning. If it succeeded, he'd be safe. If not… Well, the chances of him keeping his job (and/or surviving) were little to none. That wasn't the sort of thought he just pushed to the back of his mind.

He was only seventeen, after all, and extremely young for his position. He was too young to throw his life away, but here he was, planning his own funeral and counting the number of people who might cry on one hand.

These thoughts surprised him. He wasn't usually bitter. It must have been the anxiety. _You can't call a sane man crazy for acting out once,_ he reasoned, and turned over in bed.

"You'd better know what you're doing, Tosun." He sighed, and closed his eyes determinedly.

—

The days passed extremely slowly. Petra thought she was going to die of boredom before they even reached shore. There was nothing to do on board the ship. They couldn't talk strategy with Harumi around, and she didn't give any sign that she'd be leaving soon.

Not that Petra minded; she liked Harumi a lot. She talked a lot and helped Kasai keep conversation going (which was way easier now that there were three people participating instead of just two).

Petra got to know more about the people she was traveling with. She found out things that were interesting, funny, or just plain odd. For instance, Chee was a pet Harumi had rescued after a landslide, Jarn-Shyr was ambidextrous (but naturally dominant in her left hand), and Kasai was actually from a prestigious Western Archipelago family.

"I was, like, the _worst_ at being wealthy." Kasai elaborated. "My parents always told me I must've been switched at birth the way I acted." He laughed liked it was a joke, but he sounded like he was telling the truth.

"That's not cool," Petra frowned. "What kind of parents act like that?"

Kasai waved his hands quickly. "No, no, don't get the wrong idea. My parents are great! They just had a lot of important stuff to do all the time, so you can't blame them for being a little strict with how I represent them." He shrugged. "Besides, they lived in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. It's not like they were around to tell me what to do all the time." He grinned, not looking at all upset about it.

"Still," Petra said, "I'd hate it if my parents wished I was someone else."

Kasai shifted uncomfortably, and Petra realized this might not be the type of topic to delve too deeply into. Luckily, Harumi spoke up at just the right moment. "My parents are cool too. We used to take trips down to the Western Archipelago every summer before soldiers invaded our village." She rolled her eyes. "The taxes they make us pay _totally_ ran my family down, but luckily, they're letting me stay with my uncle this year."

"Oh, yeah." Petra nodded, trying not to choke on how awkward her words felt. "Those taxes… I totally feel that." She swallowed, glancing at a soldier stationed down the deck. He hadn't paid them any special attention. "They really… got my family, too."

Harumi laughed airily. "Yeah…"

There was a silence. Someone coughed

"What about you, Jarn-Shyr?" Kasai probed, nudging his friend. "Government bothering you're family any?"

Jarn-Shyr looked up at him, then raised one shoulder in a shrug and went back to playing with Chee's feet. He squeaked indignantly, but didn't kick her away.

Kasai sighed, then addressed Petra and Harumi. "That's all I ever get outta her. She's not real talkative about her hometown."

"Not real talkative in the first place," Petra mumbled. Next to her, she saw Harumi's eyebrows shoot up with astonishment as she suppressed her laughter.

Jarn-Shyr gave them all a bland look, then went back to bothering Chee.

"'Real funny,' she says." Kasai translated, but Petra understood. She was getting better at it—Jarn-Shyr wasn't so hard to read once you got used to her weird, silent language.

"Petra?" Harumi asked as her laughter quieted. "What's your family like?"

"Hm? Oh," Petra scratched the back of her head. "Not bad, I guess. Mom works in a pottery shop, and Dad went to fight for the UNE. I'm just traveling because I'm…" She trailed off, mind blanking.

"Jarn-Shyr's cousin!" Kasai blurted suddenly. All eyes landed on him, and he reddened. "I-I mean, yeah. You're Jarn-Shyr's cousin, right? And… since you two are old family friends, you're coming out to visit the Ember Island house. Just like last summer. Because we go way back with… family ties."

Harumi blinked. "…I see," she said, sounding suspicious.

Petra laughed, silently cursing Kasai. "Oh, _sure_ , we go _waaaay_ back." She slung an arm around Jarn-Shyr, who jumped and scared Chee off. "Isn't that right, cuz?"

Jarn-Shyr glared at her. Harumi tilted her head to the side.

"But… if you're old family friends, why would you ask all these questions about each other's families? Like you'd never met before—"

Kasai cut her off with an awkward, too-loud laugh. "Well! That's enough for family time. Let's focus on what's important. Like food! Let's get some food. You guys wanna get some food? I'm starving! Come on, Jarn-Shyr, let's see if we can find that stand from the other day."

He stood up quickly, pulling a surprised Jarn-Shyr along faster than she could reply. Harumi glanced at Petra. "…Is he always this awkward?" She asked.

Petra sighed. "Unfortunately, awkwardness is about ninety-eight percent of his personality, with the other two percent made up of bad jokes."

She and Harumi laughed, and the tension eased again.

—

That night, when Petra got up to pee, she tripped over Chee. The fire ferret hissed angrily.

"Sorry!" Petra whispered, cringing at his loud animal noises. Chee chittered something back at her and then curled up again at Harumi's feet. Petra tiptoed away.

"He didn't have to be so rude about it," Petra grumbled, then rounded a corner.

Their trip was almost over by now. They would be docking by tomorrow or the day after, but Petra still didn't know the ship very well. The bathroom wasn't hard to find, but in order to get to one that didn't have a grumpy stranger camping out inside, she needed to walk a little further down the deck.

She picked her way out of the crowd, soon finding herself on an isolated deck. The night air was still and clear, and the salt water lapped gently at the boat. Over her head, the endless heavens stretched, scattering starry reflections over the water. The moon was high. It was probably somewhere around midnight.

"And if you look to your right, you'll find the one blessed salvation in Petra's life—the bathroom!" Petra mumbled to herself with all the false cheer of a tour guide. Her bare feet thumped quietly across the deck, and she reached out to open the stall door.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Petra jumped, startled by the conversational voice behind her. She whipped around, paling considerably when she noticed the white-haired boy from the boarding leaning against the ship's railing and smiling at her, his mouth twisted pleasantly like the crescent moon.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Petra replied. What kind of weirdo makes small talk with a person clearly trying to get into the bathroom?

White-Hair stepped forward. "When the weather's great like this, it makes for great sailing." He locked eyes with her. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'm going to need you to come with me."

Petra's stomach dropped. "W-what for? Hey!" She backed up. "What do you want from me?!"

White-Hair's eyes shifted every so slightly over her shoulder, the only warning she got before a hand clamped over her upper arm and covered her mouth with a cotton cloth. Petra clawed at the hand gagging her, feeling panic well up in her throat.

"Sorry for this," White-Hair said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "But I didn't think you'd come with me willingly."

 _I might have if you told me why I had to come!_ Petra wanted to shout. Instead, the first thing she choked out when she managed to pull the hand off for a split second was: "Can I at least pee first?!"

Then, her mouth was covered again, and they pulled her, still fighting, away from the bathroom and any other passengers that might be in the vicinity to hear her.

—

 **{Sorry it's so short this time. It's been hard to find the time and motivation to crank out this chapter, but I'm trying to move things along. :) Thanks for reading!**

 **Next time: a really big misunderstanding that causes a lot of problems, but all Petra really wants to do is pee.}**


	6. Chapter 6

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter Six

The boat creaked around them, but the only thing Petra could hear was the stream of silent curses she was secretly sending White-Hair's way.

He'd seated her at a dusty Pai-Sho table and poured them both some tea, which Petra would have appreciated if she one, wasn't gagged, and two, didn't feel like her bladder was going to explode.

"Would you stop that?" White-Hair asked, irritation tinging his otherwise bland voice. Petra was sure the look she was giving him was bothering him. She only intensified her glare. He sighed.

"Kozu, you're free to go." He said. "I can handle the rest on my own."

The boy who'd gagged her hesitated. "Are you sure, Captain? I can wait outside the door, if you'd like."

White-Hair shook his head. "That won't be necessary. You're dismissed."

Kozu looked like he had more to say, but he left with a quick bow. "Yes, sir."

There was an awkward tension in the air as he left the room, but it followed the guard out, and as soon as the door clicked closed, White-Hair sighed and relaxed in his chair.

"Finally," he murmured. "I thought he'd never leave."

Petra quirked a brow at this, her anger giving way to confusion and suspicion. White-Hair turned back to her and smiled apologetically. "You'll have to forgive me–a show of force was the best way to erase any doubt that I fully intend to capture you. Here," He reached over and pulled the gag down to her neck.

As soon as the gag dropped, Petra inhaled a deep breath (to yell at him or just scream in general, she didn't know). White-Hair seemed to sense this and he rushed forward, clamping a calloused hand over her mouth.

"Don't scream!" He said, sounding slightly panicked. "If you scream, more guards will come, and they'll take you away."

Petra's eyes narrowed to slits. She scowled in irritation and licked his hand.

White-Hair jolted back, disgusted. "Ugh, gross!"

Petra rolled her eyes. "What do you want from me, man? I was just trying to get to the bathroom."

White-Hair wiped his hand off on his pants. He took his time leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms. He was pretty young for a soldier, and high-ranking if his badges said anything. Petra wondered briefly just how much trouble she was in.

"I know you're the Avatar," he said bluntly, head tilted down and eyebrows raised so he could gauge her reaction.

Petra paled immediately. _A lot of trouble, then_. She thought.

As much as she would argue otherwise, Petra was aware that she wasn't the best liar in the world, and as seconds ticked by she knew the believability of anything she would say to deny it was stretching thin. Still, she laughed airily, forcing a smile as her throat closed up with panic. "Me? The _Avatar?_ You're joking, right?" It was a weak counter, but she choked it out anyway, desperately hoping this guy was too inexperienced to notice.

He noticed.

"You don't have to try to deny it," White-Hair said, reaching into his shirt. He pulled a beaded necklace free of the fabric, and Petra's mouth snapped shut.

Four colored beads strung together on a leather string. A simple piece of jewelry, just painted clay, but from this close up there was no doubt in Petra's mind that it was her mother's.

"Where did you…" she whispered, but her voice wouldn't support the rest of the sentence.

White-Hair reached behind his neck to untie the knot. "Your mother's, right?" He pulled the necklace off and held it out to her. "Here." She held out her hands, still tied together, and accepted it numbly. White-Hair sat back again, guilt darkening his features. "It was sent to me from the head of the UNE. My guess is, they captured her and beat the information out of her. I… can't say for certain if she's still alive. Chances are, she's not."

Petra sat silently, staring down at the necklace in her hands and sucking on her bottom lip in a desperate attempt to stave off the warning sting behind her eyes. She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, then opened it again. "I…" She swallowed tightly, tried to exhale calmly, but her voice still wouldn't work. "I…"

"I'm sorry," White-Hair interrupted, and Petra looked up with watery eyes. She couldn't decide how she felt about this man, about this soldier handling her mother's necklace and _apologizing_ of all things, despite his affiliation with the very people who wanted benders to suffer.

"You're not," she managed bitterly. "You're not sorry about her. You… you don't even _know_ her."

White-Hair didn't say anything for a moment. When he opened his mouth to speak, Petra raised her voice over him. "Why do you have this? Why did you target her–she was just a potter!"

"I didn't," White-Hair growled, irritation gripping him again. "You think I knew what they were doing? I only got the letter this week, and even if I had known it's not like I could do anything!"

Petra's face twisted as her anger intensified. "You don't get to act like you're not part of this organization–if you've got those badges you're probably someone important, right?" She pointed at his uniform and spat, "You must've done something _really_ bad to earn those."

White-Hair's eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter. He gripped the edge of the Pai-Sho table, knuckles white against the dark lacquered wood. There was a pause, the air tense and lanced with aggression between them. Then, White-Hair sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"You're right," he said. "I cannot deny that I am a member of the UNE. But only out of necessity." He looked back at her, and the rage beating against her ribcage eased slightly. He inclined his head toward her. "Why do you think I brought you here with no backup in the middle of the night?"

Petra didn't want to let him change the subject on her, but the conversation was switching gears naturally, and she had questions of her own anyway. "Because you didn't want to start a scene on deck?" _Or because you like creeping on people trying to get into the bathroom?_

"Partially, I suppose," White-Hair admitted. "But it was mostly because I couldn't have other officials knowing your identity."

"What about that other guy?" Petra argued. "Doesn't he know who I am now?"

"He doesn't know the specifics of your arrest, and I'll just tell him I had the wrong person anyway."

Petra rubbed her wrists together, irritated by the rope binding them. "Here, let me get that." White-Hair offered, taking a knife from his belt and slipping it cleanly under the bindings. "My name's Lien, by the way. I'm a captain of the UNE military."

"Like for the ship?" Petra asked, massaging her wrists and looking around the cabin.

Lien laughed awkwardly. "Ah, no, but you wouldn't believe how many people mix that up even _within_ the military."

He readjusted himself in his chair and cleared his throat before continuing. "I didn't kidnap you to arrest you, Avatar. I know this is all probably pretty confusing, but let me explain."

"Better make it good," Petra mumbled. He ignored her.

"I joined the UNE specifically to assist the search for the Avatar–that's you. I did not, however, ever intend to capture you, despite the orders I've been given."

"Why not?" Petra asked, crossing her legs and folding her arms.

Lien met her gaze, and a shiver went through her as his sharp, icy eyes glinted contemptuously in the dim candlelight of the cabin. "Because I'm not actually on the United Elements' side–I'm a waterbender."

Petra's eyebrows shot up. That was probably the last thing she'd been expecting to come out of his mouth. "Seriously?" She said before he could get too content with the dramatic pause. "Then why d'you work for them?"

Lien spread his hands. "'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em,' is how the saying goes, correct? I figured that by working for the UNE I could find a way to break them from the inside-out."  
"And how's that going for ya?" Petra asked dryly.

Lien shrugged. "Eh, it's an ongoing process." He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his the table. "But now that you're here, plans have changed."

Petra hummed sarcastically. "Have they now."

Lien sighed. "Please work with me here."

"I might have been more cooperative if you'd'a let me go to the bathroom back there."

"Sorry about that."

"Sure you are."

Lien cleared his throat. " _Anyway_ , what I'm trying to say is, we're going to blow up the cargo ship."

Petra had just picked up her tea and nearly spat the drink when he said that. "Blow up the cargo ship, are you crazy!? The last thing I wanna do is draw attention to myself, and I don't really have any way to escape in the _middle of the ocean._ "

"We're almost at the dock," Lien pointed out. "And there are lifeboats along the sides of the ship. If we can all make it into one, I'll be able to steer us to land with my bending."

"What about my friends?" Petra asked, imagining Jarn-Shyr trying to drag Kasai into a rickety lifeboat hanging over open water.

"Are they benders?" Lien replied.

"One of them is," Petra said. "The other is a non-bender, but she's pro-bender. Harumi… I'm not too sure."

Lien looked thoughtful. "Harumi, you said?" Petra nodded. He hummed. "This is just a guess, so excuse me if I'm wrong, but does she wear a cloak of any sort over her regular clothes?"

Petra squinted, suspicious. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Lien smiled. "Harumi has a very Western-Air-Temple ring to it, don't you think? My guess is that she's an Air Nomad, though what she's doing so far from the safety of an Air Temple eludes me."

Petra blinked. "'Air Nomad?' So she's like, an airbender?"

"That would make her an Air Nomad, yes."

Petra jumped out of her chair, slamming her hands down on the Pai-Sho table between them. Lien raised an eyebrow. "That's perfect! If Harumi's an airbender, then we can take her with us to Bender's Isle!"

Lien smiled curiously. "Bender's Isle? I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't've. It's a non-UNE bender-exclusive hideout off the coast of the Western Archipelago." Her pride swelled with the fact that she knew something he didn't.

"Sounds like the place to be," Lien agreed. "So, we'll blow up the ship and escape to Bender's Isle?"

Petra grinned sharply. "Heck yeah we will! We can–whoa whoa, wait. Hold your ostrich-horses." She brought a hand up to her chin, suddenly suspicious. "How am I supposed to know you're not faking me out here?"

Lien smiled and raised his arms. With a large, swooping motion, Petra felt the boat rock sideways just enough for her to know the calm waters around them hadn't caused the wave alone.

"Good enough for you?" Petra nodded. "Great. You're free to go. I'll come get you in a few hours when the patrols shift."

"What'll I have to do?" Petra asked.

"It'll be easier to explain right before we do it, so it's fresh in your mind. I'll be doing the hard part, you pretty much just have to get your friends into a lifeboat and detach on my count."

Petra nodded. "You got it, Captain!"

Lien smiled as she rushed for the door. "Oh, wait!" He said, remembering something.

"Yeah?" Petra asked, hand on the doorknob.

"What's your name?"

The low light of the gas lamp flickered in the room as Petra hesitated. It was safe to tell him, right? He was on her side, no matter what his uniform said.

She turned the knob with a lopsided grin. "Petra," she said simply, and left the room.

Lien watched the door close behind her, a subtle sense of excitement twisting with the anxiety already settled in his chest.

 _Good work, Tosun._ He congratulated himself, placing the Jasmine tile on the Pai-Sho board. He stood up and moved over to his desk, reviewing his blueprints of the ship and finalizing his plan.

– –

As Petra stepped out into the fresh night air, she felt anticipation for the coming escape charging her with adrenaline. She smiled to herself and closed the door behind her, preparing to step off in the direction of the bathroom for a well-deserved pee-break.

"What're you so happy about?"

Petra froze in place, cold recognition trickling down her neck like ocean water. She spun on her heel, donning a sheepish grin and scrambling for excuses. "Oh, just um, y'know, excited about finally getting to the bathroom is all."

The soldier from earlier–Kozu, if Petra remembered right–stared down at her over his nose. He didn't look too menacing–probably Lien's age, but with normal-colored hair and definitely of lower status, but Petra figured that if Lien had told him to go then he wasn't in on the plan. Probably didn't take very kindly to benders, either.

"What'd you guys talk about in there?" He asked gruffly, but Petra could tell his aggression was forced.

"I don't think he would tell you to leave if he wanted you to know, now would he?" She countered. He flushed indignantly and opened his mouth to reply. Petra cut him off with a wave of her hand. "He's your captain, right? Better do what he says."

Kozu didn't reply as Petra turned around to leave. She made it around the corner and back to the bathroom without further incident, but she knew Kozu's eyes had followed her the whole way.

– –

As soon as Petra made it back to the group, she woke up Harumi. Before they started anything, she needed to make sure Lien wasn't wrong.

"W-wha…?" Harumi sat up as Petra shook her awake.

"Harumi!" she hissed, having checked to make sure no one around them was close enough or awake enough to hear them. Kasai's snoring should drown out their conversation anyway.

"Yeah, yeah! What is it?" Harumi said, startled and confused.

"I have a question, and it's really important." Petra whispered, eyes darting around.

"It better be, if it couldn't wait 'til morning." Harumi mumbled.

"Harumi," Petra looked her in the eyes. "Are you an airbender?"

Silence fell like an anvil over the two of them, then Harumi held up an arm defensively. "W-w-what makes you think that? Of course not, I'm from the Earth Kingdom, like I told you, remember? My family s-sent me to the, um, to my grandparents? I mean uncle? For the summer! In the Western Archipelago–I'm–"

Petra interrupted her. "Harumi, it's okay! I'm a bender too!"

Harumi blinked. "You… you are?"

Petra nodded. "Yeah! And I've got a plan that'll get us to Bender's Isle."

Harumi's eyes brightened. "That's where you're headed too? I thought it was just a rumor, but if you know it too it's gotta be real!"

"Yeah, it's real!"

Harumi squealed. Petra hushed her, looking around. Harumi mouthed a _Sorry_.

She looked between Jarn-Shyr and Kasai. "Are they benders too?"

Petra shook her head. "Just Kasai. Jarn-Shyr's a nonbender."

Harumi stiffened nervously. "Then she's–"

Petra shook her head again. "No, no, she's pro-bender. She's on our side."

Harumi relaxed visibly. "Oh thank goodness." She huffed a laugh. "This is awesome, this is… I can't even describe how relieved I am. I thought we'd have to separate at port and that we'd never be friends if you guys found out I'm a bender."

Petra shook her head so much she was certain it was going to roll off her shoulders. "I know, right? Kasai was so upset when I told him you couldn't travel with us, since we thought you were a nonbender. But you might want to change your name–I only figured it out because a UNE official told me your name sounded like–"

"Whoa, wait." Harumi said, face going stony with fear. "You told a soldier my name? When did this happen?"

Petra waved her hands to try and fend off the misunderstanding. "No, Spirits, he's not a _real_ official–he's on our side, he's just undercover, and–okay, let's wake up the others and I can go into the rest."

Harumi gave her a skeptical glance, but helped her wake up Kasai and Jarn-Shyr anyway.

Petra brought them up to speed on her conversation with Harumi, quieter now that they didn't have Kasai's snoring to act as a barrier for their voices.

"You're an _airbender?_ " Kasai asked, eyebrows shooting up his forehead. Jarn-Shyr's expression mimicked his for a moment, but after a moment's consideration, realization seemed to dawn on her and she nodded like it all made sense.

Harumi nodded. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you guys, it's just–you know how it is."

Kasai hummed in agreement.

"Anyways," Petra said, taking their attention once more. "I just had a talk with an officer who found out I'm the–I'm a bender." She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the way Kasai quirked his brow, obviously not having missed the catch in her voice. "He's actually a waterbender working undercover in the UNE to destroy them from the inside out."

Kasai whistled a low note of appreciation. Jarn-Shyr shushed him.

"He's got a plan to get us off the ship and over to Bender's Isle while taking out the cargo ship." Petra continued. "It would disable the UNE and take down some of their soldiers, which is always a plus."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kasai said, holding up his hands in a _Back It Up_ gesture. "Since when was our goal to take down the UNE? Wouldn't it be safer to just wait 'til we dock tomorrow and then make our way _discreetly_ over to the Isle?"

Petra looked at him for a long moment. His face looked pale under the moonlight, but she couldn't tell if it was just the lighting or because he was afraid. She realized suddenly that she'd signed these people up for a mission without even talking to them about it first, just because _she_ thought it was the best thing to do. She swallowed around her rising guilt. "Kasai," she said finally. He straightened. "I know it's not… the _safest_ way to get there. We'll be taking a big risk if we do this." She looked down. "But it will be faster to just take a boat straight there and I think… I really _need_ to do this." She took a deep breath. "There's a responsibility I've been neglecting for a long time, and this is the best way for me to start addressing it." She let out her breath. "Please understand. This–this is important to me."

They sat quietly for a long time. Kasai exchanged a glance with Jarn-Shyr, and Harumi nodded at him encouragingly. Petra didn't look up immediately, shame trickling into her stomach as she thought about her mom, the necklace, and a promise she hadn't been able to keep. The words, _I'll come back for you, I swear,_ echoed in her head like a taunt, and she closed her eyes against them.

"Well," Kasai started, hesitant. "If it's really that important to you, then it's definitely worth a little longer at sea."

Petra's head snapped up. "Really?" She said, disbelieving. Kasai smiled, a genuine thing carved out of understanding and compassion, and gratitude poured into Petra's chest like a warm drink. She smiled back, appreciative. "Thanks man," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "It means a lot."

Kasai's grin split and his teeth shone. "Alright, so what's our plan?"

– –

Lien came to get them a few hours later. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was getting lighter, and Petra knew dawn would be upon them soon enough.

Everyone was still asleep. Petra wondered why they waited so long, but Lien explained that he wanted to wait until the guards changed shifts.

"They don't guard the boat as heavily during the daytime," he said, leading them along the starboard side of the ship. "I would think they'd have it the other way around, but I guess they're more concerned about nighttime sabotage than daytime food crooks."

"So we're cheating the system?" Petra summarized.

"Exactly."

Lien directed them to a lifeboat tucked away at the back of the ship. He told them to drop it into the water as soon as they heard the first explosion and that he'd catch up quickly.

"Kasai, I want you to come with me."

Kasai stopped abruptly and whipped around. "Me?" He asked.

"Him?" Petra said.

Lien shot her a sideways glance, then turned to address Kasai. "You're a firebender right? I'll need your help if we're going to create an explosion."

Kasai straightened, looking anxious but strangely determined, and he nodded. "Right!"

Lien looked back at Petra. "I'm assuming you three can figure out a lifeboat?"

Petra folded her arms. "What d'you take me for?"

Lien grinned. "I'll take that as a yes, then." He waved to Kasai. "Come on, let's get going. The faster we get this done, the easier it'll be."

Petra watched them turn around and run back the way they'd come. She turned to Harumi and Jarn-Shyr. "You heard the man. Let's get to that lifeboat."

– –

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kasai asked as he followed Lien down into the heart of the ship. They wound their way deeper into the labyrinth of steel corridors and steaming pipes. Kasai feared they wouldn't be able to find their way out fast enough. "Won't it be difficult to come back up from the bottom of the ship while it sinks?"

Lien turned left down another hallway. "The cargo deck has an emergency escape hatch that leads to the back of the boat. It's made for easy access to both the port and starboard lifeboats, so we'll be able to make it out quickly enough to get on the lifeboat with time to spare."

They ran down another staircase. "That's reassuring," Kasai admitted. "But something could still go wrong. What if we get stuck down there with no way out?"

They reached a heavy door. Lien pulled out a keyring and paused. He sighed and turned around to face Kasai, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine, alright? Don't worry so much." He turned to insert the key into the lock, and Kasai had the disturbing feeling he'd just been patronized.

"There," Lien breathed as the door gave way to the key, and it opened into a dark, spacious room.

They made their way inside. Lien made a complaint about the light switch always being too difficult to find, but Kasai managed to light up the area with a snap of his fingers. Lien gave him a thumbs up.

"Over here," he beckoned, and Kasai followed him to the far wall. Lien considered the wall and bent down to check where it met the floor.

"This is the door," he confirmed. "Since we're out at sea, it should be at least partially submerged. I'd like to get to a lower, more reliable location, but it would take too long to roll the barrels down the stairs, not to mention we'd probably get caught."

Kasai's head swam as Lien rambled on about positioning. He watched the officer arrange several barrels near the door, still talking on about the trajectory of the explosion and how _this many barrels_ would make _too big an explosion_ but _this many_ would be _too little._ The longer they spent below deck, the queasier Kasai felt, and he didn't think he could handle being down there for much longer.

"There," Lien said finally. "This should be enough. Come this way." He guided Kasai a few meters away.

"What's in those barrels anyway?" Kasai asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"A new substance the UNE discovered recently." Lien explained easily. "It's said to be a highly explosive powder of sorts, and if we can set it on fire we should be able to blow a hole straight through the side of the ship."

"Won't we get hit by the explosion too?" Kasai asked.

Lien looked at him. "I'm hoping we have enough time to duck behind some boxes to ease the recoil."

Kasai blanched. "So you've never actually seen this stuff work?"

Lien shrugged. "Not really, but I know it will do the job. Come on."

Kasai followed him a good distance away from the barrels, but not too far that his firebending wouldn't reach them.

"Alright," Lien said. "Whenever you're ready."

Now came the hard part. Kasai wasn't the most reliable firebender. He had trouble figuring the motions out on his own a lot of the time, and more often than not he just relied on Jarn-Shyr to guide him through the actions. It was difficult to focus on the instinctual impulse of firebending with the ship swaying beneath his feet, the suffocating presence of _water_ all around him snuffing his internal figurative flame like an oil lamp. But he'd been chosen for this job specifically because of his skill set, and he wasn't about to let Lien down.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He figured the best route to take here was a fire punch, plain and simple. He could manage that; he'd done it before, had seen it _work_ before, so he didn't have to stress about the embarrassment that would follow him if it ended up not working. He could do this.

He focused on the primal feeling of fire deep in his core and squared his stance.

As he stepped into the motion, the door behind them slammed open loudly, and Kasai yelped as he finished the punch.

Several things happened at once. The barrels exploded immediately, blowing a sizable hole in the side of the ship and letting water in at an alarming rate. Lien and Kasai were thrown back, away from the escape hatch and into the far wall. Shouts to their left indicated several soldiers had found them and were making their way into the storage room after them.

Kasai panicked immediately, eyes wide and narrowed in fear as water sloshed up around his feet. The idiot guards caged them against the wall, out of reach of the escape ladder with no regard for their own safety. He pressed his back flat against the metal, feet scrambling back in a desperate attempt to drive him further up the side.

"Benders!" One of the guards shouted. "You're under arrest!"

Lien picked himself up off the floor, holding his head and grimacing at the line of soldiers. "Alright," he mumbled. "Who spoiled the surprise?"

"Captain Lien Tosun!" One of the guards cried out. "You're under arrest for treason and assisting a bender!"

Lien groaned. "Don't bother. As if I'll be going that easily."

Kasai felt Lien grip his arm. "Come on!" he said as the guards drew their weapons. With his free arm, he conjured a wave underneath them and let it sweep them up and over the line of guards. Their cries of surprise were cut short as the wave crashed over their heads, throwing them into the torrential undercurrent of the water as Lien pulled it back.

He and Kasai landed near the ladder, and Lien urged Kasai up first.

"Hurry!" he said, and lifted the water to drown the soldiers once more.

– –

Petra stretched her legs out in front of her, leaning back on the palms of her hands and shifting on the uncomfortable wooden seat. "You'd think they'd make lifeboats more comfortable," she grumbled, nervously eyeing the rusty pulley they'd be using to lower themselves.

Harumi shrugged on her right. "Well, it's not like this ship was a luxury cruise in the first place."

Petra hummed her agreement and fell quiet again, listening to the steady, gentle _clunk_ of the lifeboat hitting the side of the ship. It had been fifteen minutes since the boys had left to blow up the cargo bay, and the adrenaline of anticipation was withering into boredom and anxiety. She'd really been hoping to get her hands dirty instead of sending Kasai into the fray, but he was probably better suited to start an explosion than she was anyway. She huffed, frustrated by her own uselessness, and looked over at Jarn-Shyr.

She'd been uncharacteristically antsy ever since Kasai had gone off with Lien. She was currently sitting on the edge of the lifeboat, carving characters into the wooden seat with the tip of her knife.

"What're you writing?" Petra asked, jerking her chin in Jarn-Shyr's direction.

The girl stabbed her knife into the seat with finality, making Petra jump. Jarn-Shyr looked up after another moment, disdain writing a clear message across her face: _Do you really expect me to be able to answer that?_

Petra raised her hands defensively. "Alright, sorry, sheesh. What's got _you_ so worked up?"

Jarn-Shyr watched her for another moment, then deflated with a sigh. She pulled her knife out of the wood and maneuvered it between her fingers. She pointed at the deck above them.

"You worried about Kasai?" Harumi guessed. Jarn-Shyr shrugged.

Harumi exchanged a mischievous smile with Petra. She looked back at Jarn-Shyr and raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Y' _know_ …" she started, voice tipping dangerously innocent against the weight of her implication. "You two are pretty close, aren't you?"

Jarn-Shyr blinked, not quite seeing where the conversation was going. Petra stifled a laugh as Harumi went on.

"One might even go as far as to say… you _like_ each other?"

Jarn-Shyr blinked slowly, confusion drawing her eyebrows together and cocking her head to the side. Harumi's eyebrows looked like they were going to fly straight off her forehead and Petra wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle this much longer.

Suddenly, something clicked into place in Jarn-Shyr's head, and her face flushed bright red. She glanced quickly between Petra and Harumi as Petra burst out laughing and Harumi leaned in closer. Her hands worked their way up to fidget embarrassedly in front of her face, mouth opening and closing like she was trying to form the words of denial. She shook her head hard enough to give herself whiplash and leaned so far back she nearly fell out of the lifeboat. Petra laughed harder.

"It's okay, Jarn-Shyr, we're just joking!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Harumi," Petra said as she finally calmed down. "They're more like siblings than… than _that_. At least, so they _say._ "

Jarn-Shyr scowled at her, but the menace in her eyes was dialed down by the redness of her face.

"Ohh," Harumi said, nodding with understanding. She fed Chee a bit of jerky from his perch on her shoulder. "A shame." She snorted as Jarn-Shyr turned her glare on her.

A sudden explosion rocked the ship, and Petra gripped the side of the lifeboat as adrenaline shocked her fingers. Chee chittered and tucked himself away in Harumi's shirt. "The pulley!" She said, and Jarn-Shyr, closest to the ship, stood up quickly to lower the boat. She balanced herself on the edge of the lifeboat and steadied herself by hooking her fingers over the edge of the deck above. Harumi moved to the front pulley to do the same.

As they were wrestling the ropes, Harumi yelped and fell backwards, losing her balance. She cushioned her fall with a gust of air, then glared up at the deck.

Petra followed her gaze and felt something in her stomach drop. Jarn-Shyr pulled her hand off the edge of the deck quickly.

The soldier from outside Lien's room loomed over them, grinning down at them with contempt. "You!" Petra growled, standing up indignantly.

"I don't know what you and the Captain were talking about back there," Kozu sneered, "but if it ended with you and your friends trying to escape in a lifeboat, you're probably not as innocent as you seemed."

"What, this?" Petra asked. "Nah, man, we're just here because there's no room on deck!"

Kozu scoffed and pulled out his sword. "You'd better hold on tight!"

He cut the rope tied to the front of the raft. Harumi's side of the lifeboat fell loose and crashed against the side of the ship. Petra and Jarn-Shyr hung on to the back of the boat, but Harumi was left dangling dangerously over the edge. Her cloak was blown open by the wild winds whipping around them, revealing the telling orange fabric beneath. Chee screeched.

Kozu's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're benders, then?" He grinned. "Then killing you isn't even illegal!"

He moved to the back pulley. Jarn-Shyr pulled herself upright with the rope.

The ocean thundered far beneath them. Petra could hardly hear anything over the wind and the blood pounding in her ears. Her eyes stung in the salty air, but she searched desperately for a way out. If she could just waterbend, it would be way easier, but that was out of the question.

Kozu grinned, his expression laced with mania. He brought his sword down toward the rope, but Jarn-Shyr was faster. Straining her arm to reach the distance, she countered the sword with the flat of her blade.

Kozu growled and knocked her hand away. Jarn-Shyr grabbed the rope instinctively, fear catching on her face for one of the first times Petra could remember.

"You'll only delay the inevitable!" Kozu laughed, and as he brought his sword down on the rope, Petra's last hope flashed through her mind: _Lien._

Then, with the distinct sound of rope snapping, she went weightless, falling towards the tumultuous ocean waters below.

– –

As soon as Lien came out into open air, he ran straight into Kasai.

"Kasai, what are you doing?" He demanded, but Kasai just pointed.

"Jarn-Shyr," he said, eyes wide.

Lien stepped around him, and nearly stepped back in shock.

Standing at the edge of the rail with his sword drawn, back to them and coat whipping around him in the wind, was Kozu. He was leaning over the rail, watching something far below, and laughing with delight.

"Kozu!" Lien shouted above the wind. The soldier turned, eyes lighting up at the sight of his Captain.

"Lien! I mean, Captain! I just took out three benders trying to escape the ship!"

His smile was wide and proud, but Lien wasn't hearing anything he was saying. Lien moved on instinct, marching straight up to Kozu and punching him right between the eyes.

Kozu collapsed, and Kasai rushed over to the rail with him.

Below, bobbing in the sea, was an overturned lifeboat, and no visible people.

"Jess!" Kasai yelled into the ocean. "Petra! Harumi!"

"Come on," Lien said, and without any further warning, threw himself and Kasai overboard.

– –

Kasai was screaming. That was pretty much the only thing he was aware of. Well, that and the rapidly decreasing distance between himself and the ocean below. The water rushed up to meet them, and he barely had time to suck in a breath before he was plunged into the icy depths below.

Despite the salt, he opened his eyes, panicked. He flailed his arms, desperately clawing and kicking for the surface. But his motions were too arrhythmic, too frantic and strained, and he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into the endless black abyss.

He needed to breathe. He opened his mouth and inhaled water, then choked it back out. Where was Lien? Where were Jarn-Shyr and Petra and Harumi? And the boat–he could see its shadow above him, blocking out the light of the sun he was certain was rising.

 _This is it_ , he thought. _This is how it ends._

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt himself being propelled towards the surface. The surprise knocked the remaining air out of him, but when he broke the surface of the water and didn't sink again, he was able to choke an inhale into his lungs.

"Kasai, take my hand!"

He looked up. It was Lien, leaning over the side of the lifeboat that had somehow rightened itself.

 _He's a waterbender,_ Kasai remembered dimly, and he reached up for his hand.

Lien struggled to pull him inside the boat, arms shaking with the effort and exhaustion that came from using so much bending after going so long without using any at all. Other hands came to his aid, all helping to hoist Kasai into the raft.

He was still choking up water when someone draped a blanket over his shoulders. He realized distantly that the others must have made it back onto the boat somehow, because suddenly Jarn-Shyr was there holding his hands. More like crushing, for how hard she was holding them. But her presence was reassuring, and he felt his panic slowly bleed away.

– –

Kasai was asleep by the time the sun officially rose. Lien had propelled their raft far from the wreckage, and the ship had almost completely sunk below the surface of the water from their point of view.

Petra sat with her blanket dropped around her waist, finding she'd rather air-dry than soak the blanket. Harumi sat next to her, her cloak stripped away so her Air Nomad robes stood out a harsh orange against the monotony of the sea.

It was thanks to Harumi they'd survived at all. Thinking quickly, she'd managed to cushion their fall with the air, and the three of them had ducked underneath the life boat to hide from Kozu and any other soldiers that might spot them.

Lien had been the one to flip the raft over and help them all inside. Jarn-Shyr had rushed to the edge of the raft, searching the water desperately, and when Petra had explained to Lien that Kasai couldn't swim, Lien had used his waterbending to pull him to the surface.

Petra looked out at the horizon, the remnants of the ship nothing more than dark spots on the water. She sighed, running a hand up her forehead and through her hair.

 _Maybe that wasn't the best way to start my rebellion,_ Petra thought. But it was over now, and everyone was safe. Even if things hadn't gone according to plan, they'd still succeeded.

Lien came over with a first aid kit a minute later. He sat down on the bottom of the boat in front of the two girls and clicked it open.

"Either of you got any cuts?" He asked in a hushed tone. Harumi nodded and pulled up her right pant leg, revealing a cut caused by the blunt force impact of her leg against the side of the boat after Kozu had cut the first pulley. She scratched Chee idly behind the ears as Lien pulled out a washcloth to clean the wound.

Silence fell between them, comfortable and exhausted. Petra closed her eyes and leaned on her palm, feeling sleep tugging at her consciousness.

It felt like only seconds had passed, but by the time she opened her eyes again the sun was already dipping low over the horizon.

She stretched. Her neck was sore, but she could get over that. Her back popped and she sat up straight, looking around through her bleary eyes.

Kasai was awake now, sitting under a blanket with Jarn-Shyr while they played tic-tac-toe on a board Jarn-Shyr had carved into the floor. Harumi was playing with Chee at the front of the raft, and Lien was awake too, but just barely.

The guy looked worn to the bone, with his back hunched against the side of the boat and his head leaning on the edge. He was reading through some safety manual about surviving in the ocean. Petra figured they didn't really need it, since they'd be back on land in a day's time or so, but entertainment was pretty sparse on the boat, so she didn't blame him for his poor taste in reading material.

Jarn-Shyr was the first to notice she was awake, and she gave Petra a wave. Petra nodded back, covering her mouth as she yawned. Lien was the second, and he set down his book and called for the others to gather around.

Curious, Petra scooted off the bench and onto the still-wet floor of the raft. They settled themselves in a circle in the center of the boat, and Lien cleared his throat.

"Since we're all awake now," he said, sounding like he very much wasn't, "we should discuss our game plan."

Petra sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for more stress at the moment, but she knew they had to get this out of the way. "Alright, Captain. What's next?"

Lien blinked at her, then looked down at the safety pamphlet in his hands. He set it out in front of them, revealing a neat, printed map of the Western Archipelago. He pointed at a space just below one of the larger islands.

"This is where we got off the ship. And this," he said, drawing his hand over to a smaller island to the left. "Is where we want to be. The Bender's Isle is an uninhabited island, by UNE reports, which is a good sign if it exists at all.

"I should be able to get us there in two days. I'd like to go faster, but I haven't used this much bending in a while, and it can be draining at this extent."

His eyes drifted over to Petra, a suggestion in his eyes, but she shook her head. _No, I can't waterbend, but I'd help you if I could._

Kasai looked between them, and Petra felt her heart falter at the realization he could probably figure out what they were thinking. Wherever his weird ability to read people came from, she wished he wasn't half as perceptive.

"So, um," he started cautiously, gauging for a reaction. "Why did you help us, Lien? I mean, I don't doubt that you're on our side or anything, but there's no way you just decided to give away your position and throw away your upper hand for a few random benders."

Lien winced. "Well, when you say it like that, it does sound pretty ridiculous, doesn't it?"

He locked eyes with Petra, a question in his eyes. She sighed and looked away, feeling all eyes drift over to her.

 _Now's as good a time as any,_ she decided, and she took a deep breath.

"Allllllllright," she said awkwardly, not meeting anyone's gaze. "It's probably about time I explained a few things."

She looked up finally, first at Lien, then at the others. "So, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I'm kinda the Avatar, and you guys are like my unofficial squad of unaware vigilantes forced into the war by chance or fate, whatever. I mean, at least that's what I consider you guys to be. I know that when we get to Bender's Isle, we probably won't need to be vigilantes anymore, or anything really, I mean I guess we can just kinda chill out finally but, I just thought I'd let you know."

There was a stunned silence. Petra pretty much expected that. She didn't know when she started thinking of these people as her Team Avatar, but with the image in her head she couldn't imagine doing anything without them. Embarrassment flooded her as the time stretched on with nobody saying anything.

Finally, Kasai broke the silence. "I don't think I'd mind being a vigilante," he admitted slowly, tilting his head to the side, considering. "I mean, we all obviously found you for a reason, and I'm a pretty firm believer in fate and things like that, so I'm down to follow you if it's what I'm meant to be doing."

Petra couldn't suppress her shock that it would be Kasai to say so first. She thought back to his reluctance to blow up the ship and the petrified look on his face when Lien had pulled him from the water. If he was going to overlook those experiences for her sake, she wasn't sure she'd be able to find the words to express her gratitude.

"Jarn-Shyr's in too," Kasai said without looking down to see her expression. Jarn-Shyr must have noticed, because she looked up at him. He looked down at her. "You are, aren't you? I'm certain you will."

Jarn-Shyr shrugged. Kasai grinned and gave Petra a thumbs up.

"Me too," Harumi spoke up from Petra's right. Petra looked at her, surprised. Harumi fidgeted. "I know I haven't been around you guys for all that long, and this is probably something pretty dangerous to be getting into, but I believe it too. That we all met for a reason, I mean. So, if you'll have me, I'll be happy to help."

Petra felt compassion well up inside her. "You _guys!_ " she wailed, throwing her arms around them. "You're so gross and nice to me! Seriously, quit it or I'll cry."

Kasai and Harumi laughed. "We'll need a team name!" Kasai suggested suddenly.

"Yeah, something that really fits!" Harumi agreed.

"What about 'Team Avatar?'"

"Too cliché."

"The Vicious Vigilantes?"

"Too aggressive."

"The Anti-UNE Task Force?"

"What kind of mouthful is that?"

Petra laughed along, reaching up to feel the beads tied around her neck. _Good, they're still there._ She rubbed her thumb over the clay and tilted her head back to look up at the stars.

 _Whether you're alive or not mom,_ she thought as the moon rose in the sky. _I'll find you someday. I swear._

The boat drifted on over dark, peaceful waters, and the people inside surrounded Petra with the warm nostalgia of family. She closed her eyes and hummed with content.

– –

"I've got it!" Kasai exclaimed. "Avatar Petra and the Rock Squad!"

"Give it a rest, Kasai."

– –

 **{Wowee, can't believe I wrote that whole thing in a day. I lost the first draft, so it was hard to find the motivation to pick it back up, but here we are now, with the longest chapter of the story and by far the most action-packed yet! Special thanks to the Rock Squad for always keeping me motivated! You guys are the greatest!}**

 **{Next time: The squad finally makes it to Bender's Isle, probably.}**


End file.
